


Bound To You

by Lananiuska



Series: Bound To You [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 02:49:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20463788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lananiuska/pseuds/Lananiuska
Summary: There was only one thing she wanted more than anything in the world, a baby, and only one man that could give it to her. So now that she gathered the courage to ask him, she just had to go through with it...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an old story of mine, I'm just uploading it here from ff.net. It's supposed to follow the show, but in here let's just pretend there was no Zelena (I wrote it before that story ended) and that Regina and Robim were just friends. Other than that, I think it's easy to follow. Now Enjoy!

Regina couldn't remember ever feeling so nervous in her life. It wasn't even in her character to feel this kind of uneasiness but even though there she was; her heart was beating unmercifully fast inside her chest, the palms of her hands were sweating and her stomach was hurting like never before. She was even feeling the beginning of a headache forming right beneath her skull and if it wasn't because she was siting, she would definitely feel her legs failing under her height.

It was ridiculous to feel like that and she knew it, but as the time kept passing by and the clock continued to move forward, the more nervous she would get.

Taking in a deep breath and getting up to her feet, the woman found out that yes, her legs were kind of shaking too and she put all her will to get them to react accordingly; after all she wasn't a teenage girl but a woman, a strong woman who once was a powerful Queen so no, she shouldn't be feeling like that.

With that thought in mind, the brunette wiped the palms of her hands against the fabric of her black skirt and with her head held up high she walked right into the bathroom of her bedroom. Once there, she took a scrutinizing look at her reflection and decided that at least she wasn't looking as bad as she was feeling.

Sure, she was looking pale in comparison to her regular self but that wasn't so bad. At least her eyes were bright and clear and with the touch of dark brown eye-liner and the soft eye-shadow she applied earlier that night, her eyes were beautifully marked.

He had once told her that he liked her eyes and that night she had hoped to appeal to him with her them. True, she still believed that the compliment was unfounded and not because she had self-confidence problems but because she didn't think her eyes were anything special; but still, she made an extra effort to make them stand out…

Puffing out a breath and shaking her head at the way her mind was running, Regina took hold of her lip gloss and put a bit of it on her lips, after that she fixed her hair and forced a smile upon herself. "Smile, Regina… after all this is what you wanted."

Blinking a few times, she tilted her head to the side and relaxed her features. Yes, this was indeed what she wanted and she couldn't backtrack now; not when she has gathered all her strength to ask him and definitely not when he has said yes.

Now, it was true that he has taken a little over two weeks to give her a definitive answer but at the end that answer has been yes. Not that she blamed him for the late reply, after all what she asked him wasn't something a woman usually asked a male 'friend' and when she decided to give it a try she has done so with the knowledge that he could say no.

And really, after witnessing the face he put when she asked him, the brunette has been almost sure that his answer was going to be a negative one because really, it was clear that he wasn't expecting her to ask him to be the father of her child and well… he kind of freaked out.

After seeing his reaction, Regina has been very tempted to use magic and make him forget that she even asked, but holding the impulse, she held her head as high as she could and tried to ease the tension.

Back to that moment, she had wanted him to make him feel at ease so she even told him that she wasn't expecting anything more from him and that if he accepted he didn't even have to put his name on the baby's birth certificate. And he really didn't have to, she just didn't want the father of her baby to be a stranger but someone she trusted and knew.

Who cared if at the end she would have to raise the baby on her own? It wasn't like it would be the first time and she was willing to do it again.

Besides who else could she ask? The idea of having a child of her own has been brewing in her mind for the good part of that year and well, since men, good men that didn't see her as the infamous Evil Queen were scarce in town and she couldn't order one by catalogue just like that, Robin was her best option.

She liked him enough to consider him the closest thing to a friend and even thought he would annoy her at times, he was a good man. There was also the fact that she knew that if he decided to be a part of the baby's life, that he was going to be a great father.

So that was it, she wanted another baby and not because she wanted to replace Henry; not at all, but with the teenage boy getting bigger and more independent she couldn't keep the idea off her mind. It was something that she has given a lot of thought to and the research she has done was extensive; she has even visited the clinic to see her options.

So yes, in resume she wanted a baby now that she was relatively young and if he accepted, she wanted Robin, her supposedly soul mate to be the father.

Luckily for her he said yes, after thinking about it for some time he said yes and the conversation that followed was even weirder than the one where she basically asked for his sperm. But it was just that she highly doubted that the man was familiar with the whole in vitro fertilization progress so she started to explain to him the procedures; she told him what he had to do, what clinic she was going to go and all that…But before she was finished talking, the man lifted a hand and chuckled, telling her that he was not going to do the IVF thing and that if they were going to go on with the whole thing, they were going to do it the old fashion way. He also wanted his name on the birth certificate and he wanted to be a part of the whole process.

Now… tough and brave as she was, Regina remembered how profusely she blushed when he told her the first part of his conditions because she plain and simple hadn't been expecting that.

Sure, he has always been kind of touchy friendly with her, but he has never done so in a way that wasn't chaste and pure friendly. But now… now all that was going to change because to create a baby together the old fashion way they obviously had to have sex and to have sex they had to do more than touching.

Shaking her head, Regina opened the faucet and washed her hands. She didn't know what kind of touching they were going to do that night but she definitely didn't want to gross him out with sweaty hands.

Once she was done with that, she took in a deep breath and tried to relax. "Come on, it's not like you haven't done this before." She muttered to herself as she turned to her side to take a look at her outfit.

Now, she hadn't know what she had to wear for the occasion so she just opted to dress as she usually did; a white blouse and a skirt that hugged her waist, hips and all the way down to her knees, a little bit of make-up and hair down. Not that it mattered; because technically speaking the only thing she had to take off were her undies.

Hell, they didn't even have to kiss because clinically speaking, now that she was ovulating and her temperature was right he just had to come in and she just had to get him in the mood so he could get an erection; then he would put it in her, ejaculate and that was it.

"Lord, who am I kidding? This is bad!" She whispered while covering her face with her hands.

Sure, sex was something she has done before but never like this. And Robin… according to the prophecy Robin was her soul mate and the whole thing could turn out to be too dangerous. Besides their relationship has purely platonic, nothing more than that and even though at times they have both acted flirty towards the other, they were just friends. Friends that hadn't even kissed! Now from being friends they were jumping into having sex and it was just… awkward.

Lowering her hands from her face, the former Queen of the enchanted Forest heard a knock on her door and after inhaling profusely she took one last look at her reflection and decided that it was the time of truth.

Clearing her throat and stepping out of the bathroom, she walked downstairs to the door and trying to look as calm as she could she opened it, finding Robin at the other side.

"Hey," She said with a weak smile, glad that her voice didn't betray her. "Come in."

"Hey yourself." Robin replied and as he walked in, Regina took a moment to have good look at him.

Since the weather was warmer, he was just wearing a black t-shirt, jeans and a leather jacket.

"Do you want anything?" She asked while closing the door, resting her back against it as he turned around to look at her.

"No, I'm fine." He said simply, hiding his hands into the pockets of his jacket as the thick accent that characterized him marked his words.

Nodding and feeling the awkwardness of the moment hit her full force, Regina bit on her lips and breathed in. "So…" She blurted out, hoping that he would say anything to break the ice.

She has never been a social butterfly and in awkward situations she would either use her sarcastic nature to take over or she would just let Robin be the one making the save. But that was when it was them against the world, not her against him and right in that moment she would do anything for him to say or do something that would help her nervousness dissipate even if it was a little bit.

"So… what now?"

Looking up to him, she saw him pushing the inside of his cheek with his tongue and then it hit her; he was feeling nervous as well.

That right there took her aback because of all the possible scenarios she had made up in her mind, the last one she imagined was for Robin to be nervous. After all the man was bold and confident so this was something new for her.

But maybe it was not lack of confidence from his part; maybe it was the awkwardness of the moment speaking through him as well

"Do you want to start? I mean we can go to the room."

"Sure, let's do that." He said but even when he said that he didn't move, he just remained in place, hands hidden in the pockets of his jacket and his clear blue eyes fixed on her.

She wasn't moving either and finding the moment to be oddly funny she chuckled. They wouldn't be making any babies staying like that, one of them had to make the first step and if had to be her then so be it.

Swallowing hard down, the brunette pushed herself away from the door and on bare feet she began to move towards her bedroom. Robin followed close behind and once she was standing in front of the King size bed she swirled around, almost colliding against him but managing not to.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know you were so close." She whispered, looking up at him as the corner of his lips curved into one of his rare smiles.

"It's alright." He said with a shrug and finding him to be so close that his scent was dancing around her nose, Regina swallowed hard once again. "You know, somehow you look a hell of a lot shorter today." He said, while looking down to her.

"Yes, I know." She replied a bit curtly as she felt him take a look and the lack of high heels on her feet. "So… do you want me to help you with this?" She said way too quickly and before he could respond she lowered her gaze and started to fumble with his belt.

He let her do it, she could even feel his eyes burning her skin while he looked from above and as she took the belt off and started to work with the task of unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans, her mind was made up on what she was going to do.

Before he knocked on her door and while she was thinking about what was to come, Regina already knew that in order for him to get an erection she would have to either give him a hand job or the most effective blow job. Sure, she could also wait for him to take the matters into his own hands and well, jerk himself…

She had thought about all that and now that the moment was there she decided that a hand job would have to do because she didn't think that going down on her knees was the appropriate thing to do in the situation. So no, unless he wanted her to go down on him, she was going to stick with the resource of her hands.

It was going to be awkward, she knew it; but it was what it was and so be it.

But just as she was going to lower his pants down his legs, Robin grabbed her hand and brought it to her side. At that she looked up, afraid that he got back to his senses and wanted to bail out.

"You know-" He said in an amused chuckle and she started to see the Robin that she knew coming out. "I don't know if it's me but this feel way too impersonal. Actually it feels more technical than anything else so I don't know, why don't we start by kissing."

"Okay, kissing is good... we can do that." She rambled as she felt her face starting to blush. It was in moments like that one when she really disliked her fair skin and she hoped but doubted that Robin hadn't noticed the heat that has taken over her face.

So, trying to act natural and angling her face up towards the much taller man, she forced a smile smiled, watching as his own face started to descend towards hers so that his lips could brush against hers.

Upon that first light contact, she couldn't help it and she let out a nervous laugh; moving her face back down and running her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry… I just… okay, I'm ready now." She said tilting her head back up and closing her eyes just so she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes.

Snorting Robin grabbed her face and spoke. "I don't think we are going to get too far here if you laugh at me, Regina."

"I'm not laughing at you… it's just that this is kind of awkward."

Yeah they had talked about it and yes she has made the 'date' for him to come over, but it was still too damn weird.

"Oh so kissing me is weird? Wow, I don't know if I'm offended by that." He said in amusement and Regina opened her eyes to find him looking straight into soft brown of her eyes.

Looking back into his eyes she took notice on the fact that he seemed relaxed and laid back; he was acting now like his easy going self and right in that moment she knew she has made the right choice; not only in choosing him as the father of her baby but in agreeing to do it this way.

No, no at all… I mean I don't know, I've never kissed you before so I really don't know."

"Well, then let's just try this again; but don't laugh, okay? My male ego wouldn't take it."

Quirking her lips, Regina shook her head and blinked a few times. "I won't, laugh. Not if you do it right at least." Arching an eyebrow, she shrugged.

"Talk about putting pressure on a man." With that being said, he held her face in place and then the two friends tried to kiss once again and succeeded. First it was a tender brush of lips and then he started to put more pressure into it; giving her a chance to get used to the feeling of his warm lips taking over hers.

The kiss progressed slowly, the former outlaw tugged at her lower lips with his teeth, she parted her lips for him and before her mind could progress what was going on, he was swirling his tongue around hers.

Angling her face into the kiss and kissing him back, Regina felt how his hands slid to the back of her head and she tentatively rested her own hands to his sides, getting a bit closer to him while thinking that no, it wasn't weird kissing him, it was actually very nice. He wasn't too rough nor too tender. It was just perfect and as the kiss went on, she relaxed against him and kissed him back.

"You are not laughing, does this means I'm doing it right?" Pulling away the slightest bit, the man said against her mouth and she could feel the smile on his lips.

"So far so good." She said, opening her eyes to look into his bright eyes.

"Good, I wouldn't want to disappoint the Queen."

Closing the distance that separated them once more, he pressed against her again and kissing her anew, he sneaked his hands between their bodies and started to unbutton her blouse. Once undone, he pulled off the offending piece and tossed it aside. He did that without breaking the kiss, his tongue dancing inside her mouth and the knuckles of his hands running up her ribcage.

Regina didn't complain as he did that and just helped him take off his jacket; once it was off it was her the one pulling away to disrupt the silence taking over her bedroom. "Take this off." She commanded grabbing a handful of his shirt.

Snorting, he started to take off his shirt as well, tossing it to the side and then taking a step towards her so he could kiss her again.

Feeling as he circled her waist with his arm to pull her closer and letting him kiss her as he wanted to, Regina breathed out into his mouth, secretly loving the way his naked torso felt against her. It almost made her want to reach behind her back so she could take her bra as well... but she didn't. If there was something she needed to remember it was that she wasn't doing this to ease the aching now forming between her legs; no, her purpose went much deeper than that and even thought she couldn't help but to enjoy it, she needed to focus and remained as detached as she could.

Putting her hands back to his sides, she felt a small tremor run down her spine as his hands sneaked between their bodies so he could begin the progress of helping her out of her skirt. But she didn't act to that, she was able to control herself and when he started to slide her skirt down she just helped him by unzipping it and stepping out of it.

They did all that without ceasing to kiss and once her skirt was gone so that she was standing in front of him in nothing more than her matching bra and panties, the dark haired woman lifted her hands and wrapped them around his neck.

She did that on automatic, and moving his face to the other side, the man known as Robin Hood put his hands against her back. But then he started to move them around so he could touch everything that was exposed; back, arms, sides… he even went ahead and helped himself to cup her breast through the thin fabric of her bra.

Biting down a moan that wanted to escape out of her lips, Regina just kept kissing him while his other hand fumbled to unclasp her bra so it could fall to the floor and so he could feel the flesh of her breast without any barrier.

It was okay by her, as far as she was concerned he was the one calling the shots and if he wanted to touch her all over to get into the mood she wasn't going to protest. Some men were like that, they liked breasts and for a while Robin used hands and fingers to get familiar with hers.

So yes, she was pliant enough to let him touch her and slide his hands to the back of her panties to pull them down, and as he finished up undressing her she pushed hard into him, feeling against her stomach that he was more than ready to take her right on the spot.

That right there sent a shiver down her spine and she rose on her tip toes, sliding her hands to the back of his head so she could bury her fingers into his hair.

It was encouraging to know that he was already hard for her and since she was wet for him, it was a matter of letting things happen.

She has been anticipating that moment. Sure, in her mind she has been sure that she would just be clinical about it but the truth was that she couldn't help but to feel a liquid warm sensation settling in her lower stomach.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise though, after all she couldn't deny that there has been some sort of attraction between them since the moment they first meet and they were now acting on it. Besides it has been such a long time since she has been with a man that every touch was making every fiber of her being vibrate with need.

Unable to stop it, Regina moaned into the kiss as his hands settled on her behind, his fingers kneading on her flesh and his hands crushing her to him. Then, before she knew what else he could do to her, he took a step forward that made her stumble and fall over the bed.

Pulling away from the kiss, he looked down at her through dark feral eyes. His breathing was hard, his face was flushed and his tongue was peeking between his lips. Seeing him like that was something else and for amoment she stopped breathing.

"Should we go on?"

Clearing her throat and licking her lips, Regina fought hard against the urge to come to her senses and stop it all. Now she knew that they should have stuck to her plan of doing the in vitro… this was dangerous, the whole thing was because the last thing she needed was to get emotionally involved with the man with the lion tattoo.

It was bad enough that they ended up being friends… but this?

But even with those thoughts invading her mind, she nodded.

"Alright then..."

Blinking and lowering himself to the bed, he forced her to lay down and when she was flat on her back he went down with her, making room with his hips so he could settle right between her legs.

"Is it okay like this or should we do it in another position?" Robin asked in a dark breath and if truth be told, Regina couldn't say if he was joking or not.

With his erection pressing insistently against her sex with nothing but the thin fabric of his boxers impeding him to break through, Regina was too far gone to notice such trivial things as the tone of his voice.

"Like this." She said, unable to articulate a more elaborated sentence. "But this needs to go," She continued by lowering down his ass the already open pants and then pulling at his boxers so they could also disappear.

Robin complied, kicking everything away and then going back into kissing her.

As they began to kiss again, he positioned himself in a way that he was an inch away from penetration, the head of his manhood nestled between the slick folds of her sex while Regina tried her best to relax her inner muscles. But it was almost impossible, it has been a few years since Graham and by what she was feeling down there, her thief was big. It would take her some time to get used to him and for a second she was tempted to tell him to please be gentle.

But because she was as eager as she was unsure, Regina sucked it up, placed her feet over the mattress, took a deep breath and pushed hard against him, making him slide into her all the way in.

At the invasion, Robin pulled away from the kiss to let pass his lips a low groan and she took the opportunity to gasp brokenly.

"Are you alright?" He breathed out, staying completely still inside of her while he rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm fine." She hissed, starting to relax her inner muscles while his erection throbbed insistently inside of her. "I'm fine…"

Once she said that, he kissed her temples and slowly pushed his hips against her. He remained still for a second and then retreating for a bit, he pushed back in, his lips descending lower and lower until they were at the corner of her mouth.

"Well you are still not laughing so I guess it's all good?"

The low undertones of his voice made her close her eyes and moving her mouth to his, she kissed him as he filled her up.

That was how they began their dance; with Robin starting to move within her, slowly at first and then picking up a rhythm that seemed to satisfied them both.

And yes, as much as she wanted to resist it, with each thrust she started to see that what was going on there was more than what she has been expecting; the whole thing even felt surreal and with his body rocking against hers and their lips desperately searching one another, she started to feel a sweet pressure building in her lower stomach and she held hard to robin, wrapping her legs around him and silencing the soft moans that wanted to escape pass her lips by kissing him harder… all until her release started to flood through her in big waves.

Tensing and breathing hard, Regina ran her hand down Robin's back and pressed him to her, loving the sensation of his hard member sliding deliciously in and out of her core while her tender flesh tensed around him. She wasn't sure, but maybe she moaned his name into his mouth or maybe she didn't... all she knew was that it felt good to have him inside of her while she climaxed.

Breaking away from the kiss, Robin searched for her eyes with his. "Regina… I'm close." He mumbled in a dark tone and if she wouldn't have let go a few minutes ago, she would definitely have done it after he said her name while in the brink of his passion.

Moving her hips up and meeting his thrust with a hard push, Regina maintained her eyes on him and when he started to move erratically within her and when his breathing got even more labored, she knew he was spilling his seed into her.

Feeling something stronger than love for the man in her arms, she kissed his mouth and his cheeks and it wasn't until he gave one final thrust that was accompanied with a low growl that she was able to breathe normally.

This was it, this was finally it.

For a moment they remained like that, Robin getting back to his senses and Regina wondering what was next. But for now, she just held him to her because one, she didn't want him to pull out just yet because his still half erect manhood was blocking his essence from spilling out of her and the longer she could keep it in the better; and second because even when the ultimate goal of their union was getting her pregnant, she couldn't deny that what she shared with the man meant a more than he could ever imagine and she wanted to hold into the moment as long as she could.

"Wow…" He said into her ear and Regina laughed. She was just happy and she felt like laughing.

"Hey, I thought we agreed at no laughing at me." He mumbled against her shoulder and she kissed his temple.

"I'm not laughing at you…" She said with a smile.

"I think I should pull out." He said and even though she could feel that he was getting back to flaccid, she shook her head no.

"Not yet."

Snorting and lifting his face to her, Robin fixed his blue colored irises into her chocolate brown eyes. He was going to slide out, eventually, but while they remained one she wanted to feel him close.

"So what now?" He asked for the second time that night and Regina closed her eye for a second.

What now? Now they could only wait and see… wait and wait because it wouldn't be until a month passed by that they would know what was next.

Opening her eyes and finding that he was still looking at her with all the intensity of his eyes, she smiled and kissed his lips lightly.

"Now we wait…"


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, let me digest this here for a minute. You are pregnant?"

Opening her warm chocolate eyes as wide as she could and looking around to make sure that no one sitting outside their table listened to her Emma's outburst, Regina clenched her jaw as hard as she could and shook her head no.

"I didn't say I was pregnant… at least not yet." She said the words in a hiss, wondering why in hell had she confided such a delicate manner to the likes of Emma Swan.

Chocking on her coffee, the blonde covered her mouth to prevent it from spilling out. "Holy shit so you are actually trying to get pregnant? Does Henry know… and how come I didn't even know you were dating."

"He doesn't know." Regina said, her tone never ceasing to sound hostile. She just didn't like discussing her private life and what was worse, she hated asking for favors and basically that was why she called Swan, to ask for some help. "That's why I came to you, so maybe you could… I don't know, give me a hand on how to tell him."

"Okay." Emma said slowly as her eyes settled deep into the raven haired brown orbs. "So who is he?"

Blushing profusely, the former Queen ran the tip of her fingertips through her hair and shrugged. This was the really awkward part and she wasn't looking forward to revealing the rest of her story to Emma.

Sure, it was obvious that after going through so much over the past few years the two of them had overcome the initial rivalry that characterized them, but she was still far from calling the woman a friend.

"That doesn't concern you, Miss Swan." She said coldly and as a response, Emma shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

"It's Robin; am I right or am I right?"

Opening her mouth to reply and then closing it shut, Regina cleared her throat and placed a hand casually over the table.

"Ha, I knew it. You know, I don't think Henry will be as surprised as you think he'll be… hell, I don't think anyone in town will be surprised like at all." Emma said that with a wink and once again, Regina wondered why did she think that telling the Charming's offspring would be a good idea.

"Not that this is any of your business, but Robin and I are just friends."

"Friends with benefits?"

"Just friends."

Or at least that was what she hoped… because even though she wouldn't say that their friendship was ruined after their night together, she could say without a doubt that the nature of it has changed.

For example, the next time they saw each other after 'that' night, has been more that a bit awkward. Regina evaded looking at him to the eye, he didn't touch her even once like he was used to and after exchanging a few words they each went their separate ways.

The next time was better though, one week after the whole thing happened, Robin made one of his rare phone calls and invited her to a cup of coffee after he would drop Roland in school and she accepted. At first she felt weird, but after a while she started to relax in his company and ended up talking about everything but their plans.

It was almost like in the old times… almost, because even though they didn't talk about it, the weight of what they did was present and she still couldn't look at him straight in the eye without feeling awkward.

A whole week has gone by since that coffee because she has been in one of her infamous retreats into her house, but now that she was out and about, she wouldn't doubt that she would run into him sometime during the night.

"Mary Margaret is going to drop dead when she hears about this, she has been going nonstop about how he looks at you and how you warmed up to him with such an ease."

Snorting in disbelieve at the fact that Snow liked to speculate about things that didn't concern her, Regina shook her head and made to get up from her chair.

"I shouldn't have told you any of this."

"No, no, no… stay. I swear I'll keep my mouth shut from now on."

Dropping her hand to the table, Regina forced herself to sit back and as if it wasn't such a big deal, she took a sip of her coffee and then took in a deep breath.

"Like I said before, not that this is any of your concern but I'm not dating anyone; I just… I've been thinking about this for quite some time and after weighting every option, I decided for an in vitro fertilization."

"Okay…"

And now the really good part. "Only that I wanted the father to be someone I knew and I… I asked Robin."

Keeping her face as straight as she could, Emma coughed a few times and Regina just watched her, waiting for the questions to come.

"So Robin is going to be the father of your baby?"

"If everything goes as planned, yes," She said before using her tongue to push the inside of her cheek.

"Alright, now I really need to process this so give me a second." With that said, Emma took a bite of the pancakes she had ordered and after chewing for what felt like an eternity, she swallowed it down. "With Robin being out of the Enchanted Forest so recently… how did you convince him of going with the in vitro? I mean does he even know how that works, or that he has to go to a lab and you know… do the deed in a cup?"

Breathing in, Regina prepared herself to break the news nobody but her and Robin knew. "Well, he said yes to fathering my child; only that he didn't want to do the in vitro thing and he wanted to you know, conceive the natural way."

At that, Emma's lips broke into a big smile and she pulled her chair closer to Regina's. For some reason that Regina couldn't quite comprehend, she seemed over-excitedly and giddy and she was sure that she was trying to contain herself.

"And what did you say?"

"Do you think I would be sitting here telling you this if I had said no?" Regina spat because yes, they were both adults and she doubted Emma was innocent in the arts of 'coupling', but she didn't really wanted to discuss her personal business.

"I see… so you are after all friends with benefits."

"No… we were completely emotionally detached during the whole thing and the only purpose we did it was to get me pregnant."

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, you can't have sex with a friend and be emotionally detached, it's impossible. The two of you made love to have a baby and that makes you bond with him in ways you will never bond with anyone else. I think it's beautiful."

Groaning, Regina looked away. She didn't like to think about it but yeah, maybe Emma was right. Being with Robin has been very special… sure, it hadn't been a mind blowing experience but after the initial awkwardness she ended up enjoying it and it was definitely something she wasn't going to forget anytime soon.

But no, it wasn't as if she wanted to talk about it; after all she was a very private person and as a rule, she was very jealous about her personal affairs.

"So do you think I should just wait until I actually get pregnant to tell Henry or should I leave little hints before telling him for sure?"

"Tell him at once, he's a very perceptive kid and beating around the bushes won't work for him. Do you want to take him over the weekend so that you two could talk?"

Parting her lips to answer that yes, she would have her son over but then closing it back when she saw no other than Robin walking into the dinner with Charming, Regina, brushed her hair behind her ear and tried to act as casually as she could.

Robin walked in looking cheerful as always, a big smile plastered on his face as he chatted amicably with the blond by his side. But as he spotted her, his eyes lit up even more and flashing her way an even bigger smile, he started to make his way towards her.

Emma saw her looking and turning her head to see what it was, she grinned. "Okay, I think I need to find Killian to tell him we have the weekend for ourselves so see you later." With that said, the woman stood up and left.

It didn't take long for Robin to get to her and once he was close enough he sat on the chair the blonde just vacated.

"Hey,"

"Hey yourself."

She replied his accustomed greeting.

Licking his lips and reaching for her water to drink from it, Robin locked eyes with her and smiled faintly.

"Sure, help yourself." She said while pointing to the glass of water he just took.

Indifferent to her cutting tone, Robin placed both elbows over the table and shrugged. "So what's new, are you with child yet?"

Yeah, leave it to the former outlaw to go straight to the point. Clearing her throat and brushing her hair behind her ear once more, Regina arched and eyebrow and shrugged in the same manner that he did.

"I don't know, I need to wait a few days and see." And that was synonymous to 'I'm not supposed to have my period until next week and I need to miss it first to get the tests done.' Of course, she didn't think he wanted to know that kind of information so she didn't share it.

"Alright, if wait he must, then wait we shall. Nervous?"

"More than nervous I feel anxious. I'm telling Henry this weekend."

"Ah, talking about Henry, the other day I saw him getting cozy with a girl at the park." After saying that, he clicked his tongue to his cheek and waited for her response.

"Liar." She said at least, her tone raspy and sure.

Humming, the blue eyed man leaned a bit into her. "I am a lot of things, Regina, but a liar is not one of them."

Narrowing her eyes as she tried to read out of his blue orbs the truth, Regina gasped and slammed a hand to the table. "Define cozy."

"As cozy as a lad his age would get with a pretty girl he fancies."

"Nooo." Regina said, feeling incredulous that her son could already be in that phase. He was still a boy… she didn't want him going out with girls… especially with girls she didn't even know.

"Yes."

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "Well thanks, Robin, as if I didn't have enough to worry about."

As soon as her words were out, Robin reached for her hand and took it in his. It was the first time he actually touched her in almost two weeks and for some reason her eyes got glued to the way he interlaced his fingers with hers.

It was almost hypnotic, his hand was way larger than hers and yet they seemed to fit perfectly together.

"What else are you worrying about?"

Blowing out the breath she just took, Regina opened her mouth to reply. "To start things, I'm worried about not being pregnant… and, well I worry about Emma telling the Charming clan and Hook what I just told her and now, now I worry about Henry having a 'girlfriend'. Gods even the word makes me shiver…"

"I see. Well I can just help you with one of those."

"Yeah?" She asked almost dumbly and Robin chuckled.

"Sure, if you didn't get with child on first try we'll just try again."

Moving her eyes up to meet his, Regina felt a heat creeping up to her face and she wished he was looking away. But he wasn't and she was almost sure by the smile on his face that he noticed that she was blushing.

"I mean last time wasn't so bad, or was it?"

Rolling her eyes, Regina did her best to make a grimace and shrugging, she arched an eyebrow. "It wasn't bad for a thief… I guess."

He snorted and squeezed her hand. "Well you aren't bad for a snotty Queen."

Fixing him with a cold glance, Regina tilted her head to the said. "Excuse me?"

"But back to the point, we all know that practice makes perfection and come on, I have to get at least one good shot."

Putting her hand down, the raven haired beauty blinked a few times. "Alright, we'll wait one more week and then we'll decide okay? Now let's not talk about this right in this moment." She didn't want to stress herself with thoughts of having to ask him for a second try.

Without letting go of her hand, Robin chuckled. "Alright, but let me tell you something. I think I'm getting a kick out of making you blush, it's so easy."

Moving her head to the side and chuckling as well, Regina rolled her eyes. "I don't, blush!"

Pouting her lips, Regina shook her head. "So, who was this girl you saw Henry with?" So yes, she changed the subject as she wanted to talk about anything but what could happen if she wasn't pregnant because seriously…

She just hoped that she got pregnant with their first try because she really didn't know what she would do if she had to have sex with him once again. She survived one time already without letting her feelings intervene, but she didn't know if she would be so lucky with a second time, a third or even a fourth…

But for now, more waiting and then she would see.


	3. Chapter 3

"So I was at Belle's library earlier today doing some research and I think I found the best technique to get you with child in just one try. Well, this would count as a second try but you get the drill."

Jumping in surprise by the sound of that familiar but somewhat unexpected voice, Regina Mills closed her eyes and touched the corner of her lips with the tip of her tongue. A second after that, she drew in a deep breath through her nose before slowly letting it escape pass her lips.

She did that as an attempt to deal with the surprise of the interruption of her shower, but in her current mood it didn't work. Her heart was beating hard and for some reason he stomach started to hurt a bit.

"Did you know that there's a thing called internet where you can search almost anything? Well I didn't, not until today that was. Belle even got me this… thing to search it on and it has all kind of information that I can carry around everywhere."

Opening her eyes and finding a wall mocking her in return with the plain sight of its slippery white tiles, the woman formerly known as the Evil Queen ran a hand down her face and then turned around to turn the shower off.

Once that was done, she grabbed for a towel to wrap around her body, slid the glass shower door open so she could take a peek out and found Robin there.

He was sitting over the closed lid of her toilet bowl and looking fully concentrated on the task at hand, which seem to be checking the internet through what seemed like a tablet.

"You are early." She said, trying to use a neutral tone; but if she had to be completely honest she had to admit that her voice came off as a bit exasperated.

She just couldn't help it, especially when he just took the liberty of breaking into her house and going straight into her bathroom.

Not that the man noticed, as soon as he heard her voice he just smiled, looked up briefly and then shrugged before going back to look at the device in his hand.

"Really?"

Blinking slowly, Regina refrained from replying; but yes, he was early as she hadn't been expecting him for at least another hour. And really, if she would have known that he would be there so early, he definitely wouldn't have caught her in the shower.

Now… Robin catching her unprepared was not exactly what got her feeling moody in the first place, but it was just that for the last two weeks she had been dealing with a few issues and as a result she was feeling edgy.

The first of those issues was of course finding out that she was not pregnant; just thirteen days prior to that day she got her period and ever since she has been feeling a mix of emotions that didn't settle with her so smoothly.

Sure, since day one she knew that there was a high possibility that she wouldn't achieve her goal on first try buy she still has been hoping to get good results.

Only that she didn't, and that she had to go to Robin to break the news to him and then plan another date for round number two has been a little stressful for her.

Then it was telling Henry, his continuous questioning, his admission that he indeed had a girlfriend and at last but not least Emma's never ending remarks about how she and Robin needed to 'do it' at least three days a week to increase their chances.

So yeah, overall it has been two stressful weeks and she couldn't wait for the end of the whole ordeal to come soon.

Thinking about all that and sliding the shower glass door even more, the dark haired stepped out of the shower and hoping to go by unnoticed by her friend, she started to walk on bare foot out of the bathroom.

She was at her house, so with an easiness that she wouldn't have found anywhere else she just went ahead into her bedroom.

Her plan was to change quickly and at least make herself more presentable… brush her hair, put some clothes on… definitely some deodorant and yeah, maybe a touch of lips gloss; but since Robin followed her close behind she just strengthened her hold on the towel and turned around to stare at him.

He has walked after her without really looking; he was engrossed with whatever he was doing with the tablet and Regina took that moment to really look at him while standing inside her sanctuary.

His brows were furrowed in concentration, his lips were slightly parted and his mandatory beard outlined his strong jaw perfectly.

Overall he was looking his regular self and during the close inspection, Regina decided that if asked, she wouldn't be able to deny that the man was handsome in ways that she wouldn't have considered before.

Watching him like that reminded her of the day she told him she didn't get pregnant; she has been a little crushed even when she didn't let it show, but Robin… he just told her that they would try it again and even joked saying that they would have to do it twice that time to make sure.

She had fixed him with a hard stare after he said that back then, but all that was the past and in this present she couldn't help but to feel antsy. Yeah it was not their first time 'doing it' but it was still weird.

Just the thought of getting things started with him made her feel out of her element and she just didn't know how to get things going.

Should she drop the towel and hope he would take interest? Should she just tell him to get in the bed so they could start? She just didn't know…

Last time had been horribly awkward and she feared that this time would be the same. Especially the after-match; she still had problems looking him in the eye just with the memory of what they did so how could she deal with a second round?

Clearing her throat and feeling too exposed standing there in nothing but a towel to cover her nakedness, Regina shifted the entire weigh of her body to her left foot and then she blew out a breath.

Robin didn't even seem to be aware of her discomfort and that made her think that maybe she was blowing things out of proportion; after all the tall blond didn't seem interested at all in the fact that she was almost naked and that made her realize that she should stick to the initial plan.

Be emotionally detached and procreate. And what better way to separate feelings than being clinical about it all?

"I went to the clinic and told the Doctor that we were going to try things naturally again and he said that it was good. He still recommends the in vitro but if natural is how you want it there is no problem. Now… he still wants to see you and probably do a sperm count."

After saying that, she chewed hard on her lower lip and held her breath.

Tilting his head up to look at her, Robin flashed her a half crooked grin and then he snorted. "A what?"

"A semen analysis;" She said flatly. "It is not required but if it turns out that you have low sperm count then the chances of me getting pregnant are going to be lower."

Putting the tablet over her dresser and then tilting his head a bit to the side, Robin blinked slowly. "I don't know what's you this realm and your doctors and clinics but somehow I don't like it."

And no, he really didn't look like he liked the way their talk was going. "Fine, you don't have to do it if you don't want to… I was just passing the message. We'll do everthing your way."

Shrugging, Regina said the last part with a bit of an attitude and apparently catching on it, Robin scoffed.

"I had Roland without some bogus doctor examining me or my 'semen' so I would say my way is more than alright." He said getting a bit serious and maybe even annoyed.

"Fine." Breathing in, Regina looked up to the ceiling of her bedroom and then replied. "It was just a passing suggestion, you don't need to bite my head off."

"Well then don't go questioning my manhood. Is that what you talked with the Doctor in your last visit, how I didn't get the job done because a nonexistent problem with my semen?"

At those words, Regina did a double take, opened her mouth to reply and then shut it back close. That was not what she wanted to imply, not at all and it was ridiculous that he would say so. This had nothing to do with his oh so precious manhood, she just wanted to cover all the bases to make her pregnancy happen.

"That's not what I said." She said darkly.

"Well it sounded that way to me." He said with a bitter chuckle as he folded his arms to his chest while eyeing her down.

Uff, why did he had to be so damn stubborn by shutting out every of the things she suggested. He said a big rotund no to the In Vitro and now it was another no the sperm count. Yeah he was doing enough by at least trying to get her pregnant but couldn't he see that by doing so he was only making her feel more stressed?

Not only did she had the self-imposed goal of getting pregnant but to top that off she had to deal with the pressure of having to ask her best friend to make it happen by sleeping with her.

No woman, especially one as independent and proud as her liked to ask for 'favors' and this felt like it.

"You know…" Snorting and turning around, she walked to her closet and pulled out of the hanger the first shirt she found and then made it to her drawers to pick up some underwear. "You don't have to do this just because I asked you to."

With that said and being careful that the towel wouldn't fall, Regina put on her panties and quirked her lips.

She was kind of expecting Robin to either say that yes, he has been feeling obliged to do it or just walk out of her house never to talk about the subject ever again; but instead of doing that, he walked to her and putting both hands to her hips, he pressed to her back.

"Regina," He said in a much kinder tone. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to, you know that."

Blowing out a breath of relief and bringing her hands to her face, she threw her head back and then shook it. "I know… I know, and I'm sorry… I just feel too stressed about this."

"You do sound tense." He said, moving his hands along her body and resting them over her shoulders.

Now, last time they were in that room, he has touched her in ways more intimately than that but for some reason, this new touch made her swallow hard.

"That's because I am…"

She said in a low whisper while closing her eyes, feeling the way his fingers started to massage her shoulders with the sightless of pressures.

"You think too much."

"I know." It was in her nature, and even though that yes, his hands on her felt nice, she just couldn't put her mind in blank with him so close…

He was alternating between her shoulders and the back of her neck, and wit his groin was almost touching her from behind and his chin hovering somewhere above her head while he looked down, she felt anything but clinically detached.

Detached? How could she remain detached if he hadn't even touched her properly and the feeling he was provoking on her was enough to make her feel antsy about their upcoming encounter? How?

Well; it was easy, she would have to deal with it or just forget about having a baby with this man.

It shouldn't be such a big deal so she just breathed into the moment and allowed his fingers to work their magic on her.

Keeping an unusual silence, Robin continued doing his work until Regina started to relax a little, but then she felt the way he lowered his hands back to her hips while pressing his lips to her hair and her heart started to beat with renewed force.

"Better?" He asked turning her around so she could face him.

Nodding but not sure if it was really better, Regina opened her eyes and smiled weakly. "I would say so-"

At her response, Robin hummed and taking his hands away from her, he turned around and sat in a corner of her bed.

The Queen just watched him, and when he motioned her to go to him she did it without thinking.

She moved as if in automatic and once she was standing in front of him, he grabbed the edges of her towel and pulled it open so that his eyes could drink on the image of her.

Now, Regina hadn't been expecting him to do that, but realistically speaking this was the reason why he came into her room in the first place and well, now that he was there and she was ovulating, they might as well go on with the program.

Let him look if that was what he needed to get his motors going… because at the end of it all, she did need him to get in the mood in order for them to have sex.

"Yeah, let's get started with this… you probably have a lot of thing to do tonight." She said when she thought he has looked enough.

Placing both hands on the curve of her waist and pulling her closer, Robin leaned forward and kissed her above the navel. It made Regina hold her breath and her stomach automatically tensed.

"Why, we haven't even started and you are already kicking me out? That's not nice, Regina…"

Blinking rapidly and watching as he started to move his lips up her stomach and to her ribcage, the dark haired lifted one of her hands and placed it over his head.

Her fingers twitched to run through his locks, but they remained in place without moving and when his lips finally reached her breast, she bit hard on her lips.

His tongue felt warm and nice running against her skin and as a way to distract herself from the liquid warm sensation that rushed to her groin, she cleared her throat and finally gave into the impulse of moving her fingers through his hair.

"Once again putting words in my mouth; I'm not kicking you out, I just don't want you to feel obliged to stay after."

"Roland is staying with Belle for the night so I'm covered." He said before using his teeth to tug lightly at the hard peak of her nipple before lapping at it.

"With Belle?" She said, finding it odd that he entrusted his kid to the younger woman. "Didn't know you two were close." After saying that, she wondered if the fact that Roland was taken cared of meant that he was going to stay over.

If he did, it would mean that he would probably sleep in her bed and then they would wake up together and very naked and wouldn't that be weird?

"Well we go back from the Enchanted Forest; long story."

"Oh…" Frowning, she tried to decipher that but then Robin moved his away so he could give the same attention to her other breast and she basically forgot her train of thoughts.

"Is this okay?" With his mouth still on her, Robin lowered his hands and placed them on top of her bottom, then ever so slightly, he started to pull her silk panties down.

Humming in affirmation, Regina helped him get rid of them until there she was, as God brought her to this world. The only difference was that there were a set of lips attached to the flesh of her breast, a tongue worrying her nipples and two hands running up and down her back. There was also a wetness soaking her privates that God would probably disapprove of but since she wasn't religious, she didn't even mind.

Too bad that it would be more difficult to get him going and considering that it was crucial for him to get an erection, she decided that she needed to do her part.

"Let me…" She said firmly, taking a step back and then grabbing his hand to make him get up to his feet.

He complied, getting up in silence and standing there while looking down at her. Not that she saw his blue orbs on her, her own eyes were focused on his light blue shirt and not his face and it was only because she could actually feel the intensity of his stare on her that she knew.

What was he thinking?

She had no clue, but since he wasn't making any move to encourage her, she decided to act before her resolution could dissolve. So with that in mind, she pulled at his shirt over his head and threw it away, and when that was done she went to work with his belt.

Taking that one off too and going to work his zipper, her fingers brushed against the undeniable proof of his desire and she blushed, looking up at him and holding her breath. "Sorry."

Now, under the circumstances, apologizing for that small touch was ridiculous. Besides, hard as he was, she just touched _him_ through the thick fabric of his pants and with the back of her hand that was it. Hadn't he put it in her last time? Touching him was supposed to mean nothing…

Ah, but last time she hadn't touch it… hell, she hadn't even looked at it so there was a sense of novelty to it.

"Do you want me to help you with that?" He said in a bemused tone of voice and without waiting for a reply he undid the zipper, kicked off his shoes and then he pulled the jeans AND his boxers down his legs until they were tossed away; then he tilted his head to the side while looking at her through darkening, sparkling eyes.

"Well thank you," Without taking her eyes from his face, Regina said in her best neutral tone while realizing that they were naked, aroused and a step away from the bed… this was going to happen and as much as she had tried not to feel like this, in a weird kind of way she wanted it to happen and not only so she could get pregnant.

It went against her original plans of detachment, she knew it, and even though there could be great repercussions, she kind of wanted to feel his hands on her.

It was wrong and later on she would probably blame it on being alone for such a long time, but the fact was that she wanted _it_… she also wanted to kiss him and most definitely she wanted to feel him inside of her.

And what could she say? She wasn't made out of stone, what ran through her veins was blood and little as it was, what had already happened in that room had the precious liquid boiling and rushing straight into her groin.

Without taking his eyes from hers, Robin grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer, so close that his erection ended up cradled between her stomach and his body.

"What about now, still tense?" He asked and his voice was a low raspy whisper lost in the air that made her tremble.

"Nope… it takes more than a naked man to make me tense up."

Chuckling, Robin reached for her hair and undid the clasp she used to tie it up for her shower, letting it fall freely down her naked shoulders; then he took a step back, sat on the bed once again and brought her down with him. "Come here."

Letting him guide her through, Regina climbed on top of him; straddling his hips and now feeling his erection pressing against her core. Sure, the angle was all wrong for it to slide inside of her but she could feel the hardness of him pulsing against her.

Closing her eyes and taking a step of her own, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his mouth. At first it was just that, two set of lips brushing against each other; but then he angled his head to the left, she moved hers to the right and almost as if they had done it many times before, she parted a way for him and allowed him inside.

Robin took what she gave and as soon as the gap was provided he pushed his tongue in and searched for hers. Upon that first contact, she sighed into his mouth and sliding her hands up his face, she reached his hair to bury her fingers there.

With their tongues melting together, he put his own hands into motion and ran a finger down her spine. That right there made her tremble once again and she kissed him harder, pressing her body even more into him while his hand started to wander through her back and eventually down her ass.

It was then when the crazy notion that they were making out hit her hard. And really, they didn't need to engage in foreplay to get what they came looking for, they just needed to get on with it until he ejaculated… yeah it sounded crude but that was all she needed.

It may be that her body wanted to feel him like this, but the truth was that she didn't really need the kisses or the touching or the building desire that was running all over her… she just needed his sperm.

Pulling away from the kiss and feeling her cheeks burning and her lips swollen, Regina looked at him and swallowed hard.

"Listen…" She said, but when no words came out she closed her eyes and breathed in.

"What?" He asked, but instead of waiting for a reply he moved his lips to the underside of her jaw and started to kiss a path to her throat.

What was it what she was going to say anyway? She could barely remember while feeling his lips and tongue moving along her skin while his fingers kneaded the naked flesh of her behind. After all, he didn't feel like a sperm machine but more like a man that was making her feel all kinds of warm inside.

Alright, warm was an understatement, she was feeling like she was boiling, and considering that they still have to go through the main course, she was seeing herself already doomed.

Shifting a little and making his erection brush against her heat, a soft moan escaped her lips and she repeated the motion. Robin grabbed onto her even harder and sucking in a breath, he smiled a sly smile against her mouth.

Biting lightly on his lips and then letting him kiss her long and deep, Regina did it again, feeling eager as the entire length of his member slid between her wet folds.

Now she was basically humping his erection in an excruciatingly slow manner and judging by how he was kissing her, he liked it very much.

Placing a hand on his shoulder and making sure that this time his throbbing erection was in place, she lifted herself a little until the tip of him was right where it needed to be. But Robin held her in place and prevented her from impaling herself to him just yet.

"What, what is it?" She asked a bit frustrated.

"Shhh." After husshing her, he kissed her lips briefly and then ever so slowly, he started to ease her down to his shaft.

Closing her eyes and holding down a gasp, Regina felt as inch by inch of his manhood started to fill her in, stretching her in the most delicious of manners until he was all the way in.

"Gods, Regina…" Once settled in, Robin hissed, his hands reaching for her ass once again so he could start moving her against him, making her go almost all the way out, and then pushing hard into her once again; drawing out, and then back in…

Loving the way he felt moving within her and loving even more the way he was biting hard on his lips while he had his way with her, the renewed woman moved her face to his and started to kiss him.

She just loved it, in that position he was reaching places he missed in their previous encounter and unable to bite it down she moaned into his mouth.

That seemed to add more fuel into him and he increased his rhythm, his hands pressing harder and his kiss becoming more insistent.

During the course of their friendship, she never dared to imagine how would he act behind closed doors… yeah, knowing that he was her soul mate, sometimes her mind wanted to wander there but she always brushed the thoughts away before they could even form inside her head.

But even if she had imagined it, she wouldn't have guessed how perfect he felt; she wouldn't have imagined that his kisses tasted like pure bliss, that his tongue was an expert when it came to master hers or that his skin felt so good to touch. She wouldn't have imagined that he was a breast man, that his hands were a perfect fit to cradle her ass and that his member could reach to such amazing places inside of her.

It was just…

Feeling her control starting to slip, Regina pulled away from the kiss and threw her head back, moment that he took to let out a moan of his own.

"Would it be bad if I tell you that I don't want to end just yet?" Before she could tell him not to stop because she was close, Robin swirled her around and made her lay on her back.

He did it without pulling out of her, but a second after she could feel him sliding out of her and she tried to sit down.

"What are you doing?" She asked almost in frustration. Sure, getting her off wasn't a must, but she has been so close.

Shutting her up with a kiss, Robin pushed her back down and when she was laying flat, he moved his lips down. He kissed her chin, her shoulders, her breast once again and then he made it to her tense stomach.

His intentions were clear to her so swallowing hard down, she spoke. "You don't have to do that."

"You said we were going to do things my way so shhh."

Staring to the ceiling, Regina stopped breathing, anticipating what was coming but not really believing it… but then it did happen; he ran his tongue down the bone of her hip, dragged it down to her pubic area and then taking hold of one of her legs and pulling it away, he descended his mouth into her and kissed her right there where she was more sensible.

Moaning brokenly, Regina covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes.

"Wait…" Already feeling delirious, she gasped. What he was doing on her was too much, his tongue was circling around her opening, he was sucking lightly on her tender bundle of nerves and the way his tongue was being dragged all over her was just making her feel wanton and out of herself.

This was going a step forward… it was just too much and she couldn't get enough of it. "Ohhh." She moaned his name, her momentum reaching its peak as he feasted on her.

Then, in a matter of nothing her orgasm hit her hard and trembling and burying her hand into his hair, her hips darted forward as his tongue plunged right into her.

It all happened in a blur, but she was very aware when he stopped lapping at her to slide up her body and between her legs.

What he did next he did it quickly, he slid back into her and because she was still feeling sensitive and tender after reaching her climax, she clung hard to him and tried to bite down on her moaning.

But it was kind of hard, having him fuse with her while she was still riding her passion down proved to be too much and not only did a few moans escape her, but they mingled with his soft growls and the sound was like music to her ears.

Searching for her mouth to kiss, Robin began to move erratically, his thrusts were more harder and desperate now and then he just mumbled something about being close and that was it; with Regina moving her hands down his ass to urge him to keep going while whispering a few words of encouragement in his ear, he groaned and then started to fill her with his warm seed.

Wrapping her legs around him and taking all he had to give, Regina pressed her lips hard against him and kissed him.

He didn't reciprocate at first, but when he started to come back into his senses, he pushed his tongue pass her lips and kissed her like it was meant to be.

For a while that was all they did, kiss while still being one. But then he ended the kiss and grinned.

"Still not bad for a thief?"

Unable to help it, Regina moved her head to the side and smiled at that.

"Not bad for my Royal demands." Watching out of the corner of her eye that he was just there; hovering over, still inside of her and smiling one of his cheeky smiles, she snorted.

Maybe she should feel weird about it all because realistically speaking, what they did was quite an experience. But somehow she didn't feel weird, she was just spent and aching deliciously after their lovemaking.

"You know, this thing of making babies is quite nice."

"Hmmm," She mumbled, looking at him and smiling at the look he was giving her. By then he had slipped out of her and she could feel some of his seed leaking out; but he still remained there, pressed to her. "You think so?"

Now, to her it definitely was and this one topped their first awkward encounter. It had all the elements and if given the chance, she wouldn't mind doing it again.

"Yes, and just because I don't want to disappoint, I'm going to give it another try later on… just let me gather my wits here."

Biting on her lips and opening her eyes wide, Regina felt herself blushing. Sure, she just thought that she wouldn't mind another chance but still…

"Now don't look at me like that, I'm not walking out of here without getting you pregnant… or wearing myself out so yes," With that said, he turned around and lay on his back.

Pursing her lips, Regina turned on her stomach and rested her head on his chest. He seemed like he just went to sleep so she said nothing. But then he wrapped an arm around her and closing her eyes and inhaling his scent, she started to drift off with him


	4. Chapter 4

Pressing her tongue against the corner of her lips and trying her best not to let the strangled moan that was stuck down her throat to escape out of her mouth, Regina decided that she wasn't thinking clearly… or better yet, that she definitely wasn't thinking at all.

She knew it because if she would be having any kind of coherent thoughts running through her head, she would have stopped things from going any further than they already had. But she wasn't doing anything to stop it… therefore why she was so sure that all common sense had abandoned her being to give way to incoherence.

So yes, it was what it was and somehow, someway, her resistance barometer went straight to hit zero and instead of using her usually rational mind as she knew she should, she was just letting things be.

Maybe her lack of resistance was a direct result to the fact that she was still half asleep and her senses were more alert than her mind, she didn't really know; but the fact was that ever since waking up in the middle of the night with the feeling of a hard body pressing against her and a hand running deliciously slow down her sides, a haziness that she still hadn't been able to kick off took over her head and now it was this.

Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, she tried to remember how it all started and all she could come up with was the vague memory of waking up with the feeling of his fingers tracing random patterns up her ribcage and then back to her naked hip.

The touch has been kind of lazy and it lacked firmness, but the closer it got to the swell of her breast to then retract down her sides, the more her brain got impaired. He went at it for a while, each time getting closer and closer but never getting actually there.

On her part, Regina just remained there, with her eyes closed and giving the impression that she was fast asleep as the almost electrical feeling of the pad of his fingers woke all her senses little by little.

For a while that was all she did, lay there with her mind a mess; but well, even though the details weren't really clear in her mind, or at least she was trying not to think much on them, she started to get restless under his touch and as his hand roamed around she pressed against him.

Close as they were, the movement ended up trapping his erection between his body and the soft flesh of her ass and hissing at the contact, his fingers closed hard around her hip.

Biting on her lips and definitely with her mind in the wrong place, Regina pressed harder, quietly enjoying how his manhood felt so hot and invitingly hard against her. In that moment there was no sense of what was wrong or right and the fact that the man provoking such feelings on her was none other than her best friend totally eluded her.

She was just aware that a need in her was awakening and that Robin was there to satiate it.

"You definitely want me to lose my mind, don't you?" Robin has said and then, lowering his face so that he could bite her shoulder softly, he dragged his hand to her breast so that he could get a good feel.

As far as she knew that was how it all started and then somewhere along the line, things got out of control and now she was straddling Robin's hips and resting over his hard body as his fingers slid beneath the blankets to run along her back without any kind of inhibition.

It seemed as if she just allowed her body to dictate her actions while putting her mind in blank and now it was this. His touch was burning a path of fire through her skin, his scent was invading all her senses and the feeling of his naked torso emanating such an intense heat into her was plain and simple making her feel feverish.

It was in that moment, when things felt imminent that her reality started to clear and she began questioning her actions. What the hell was she doing? Was she really making out with Robin? Because one thing was making a deal with the man to have sex with the only purpose of getting her pregnant and another very different to let her libido dictate her actions.

Doing the later was only going to make them both confuse the nature of their friendship and she couldn't let that happen. Unless… unless this was Robin finishing his end of the bargain.

After all he did say that he was going to try twice to get her pregnant that night so maybe this was still part of the deal? If that was the case, then what did it mean that she was letting things happen because they felt good rather than to get with child?

Did it mean that she was losing it?

As those questions started to invade her now clearer mind, the raven haired woman felt Robin drag his lips down her neck so he could worry the tender spot where her pulse was beating with his teeth and she couldn't help but to allow a throaty moan to escape out of her lips.

The sound of it prompted her to open her eyes and her hips automatically grinded against his, her hand curving to the back of his neck as she tried to sit up.

"Robin-" She mumbled, her mind trying to formulate a coherent sentence that could reason about what she was doing and why; but as soon as she spoke his name, the man underneath her tilted his head up and his lips went to cover hers once again.

Regina kissed him back, feeling fully aware that if there was any doubt in her mind about her sanity, it dissipated by her latest action. She had plain and simple lost it. Ever since their first time together she has been trying to cling to it, to retain even a little bit of it, but it was all in vain and apparently, she had lost her battle.

Maybe she should have pressed for the in-vitro or more than that, she should have never asked him to be the father in the first place.

No, she should have adopted again or… or anything that wouldn't have dragged her into sleeping with him.

And seriously, their first time together has been justified. They were trying to get her with child and in her mind they dealt with it relatively good. True, it has been awkward as hell, but nothing that would damage their friendship in the long run so it has been understandable, forgivable and she had been absolved by herself.

The second time… well, that one has been justified as well even though she kind of allowed her desire to take partially over. But this… her motives for doing this were wrong and she shouldn't be letting herself be carried away with such abandon.

She really shouldn't… but still…

Sitting up and pulling Robin up with her, Regina threw her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, that way and with the patience of those who lived with no hurries, they continued exploring each other, their tongues tangled in a glorious dance that seemed to have no end.

As the kiss started to escalate in intensity, she felt Robin brushing his fingers along her spine and then making their way all the way up to her shoulders before dropping them back slowly to her waist. He repeated the motion, each time venturing a little bit further down; first dwelling on her lower back and then to her hips and at last to her ass, a lone finger sliding between her cheeks and settling against her pucker with the slightest touch.

It was a gentle and teasing touch that last a second before moving away and it definitely lacked the delicious urgency he used on her whenever he touched her, but for some reason it made her heart skip a beat.

Maybe it was because no one has ever touched her there and that Robin just did disconcerted her, or maybe it was that her mind hadn't really gotten a grip on what was going on; whatever it was, it made her fingers bury deep into his hair so that she could pull him closer.

Now, truth be told, disconcerted or not, the turn of events were making the former Evil Queen feel wanton. Her sex was swollen and ready and as it pulsated with need, she felt like she wanted to feel him nice and close so she pushed her hips against his, rotating her crotch in such a way that she could make contact against his own arousal.

It was like deja-vu, as she was sure that they had done things exactly like this the previous night, but at the same time, it all felt so new.

At the contact, Robin groaned into the kiss and pulled her tighter against him. Regina hummed, her lips curving into a grimace when he pulled away from the kiss and swirled her around so he was now the one on top. It was a nice feeling, she couldn't lie about it and the feeling of skin to skin contact made her want for more; but at the same time there was a voice in the back of her mind yelling at her to push him off so she could clear her head and do this as she has been planning, with no feelings involved.

"Robin, wait… we can't do this like this." She breathed out.

"No? And how do you fancy doing it?" He asked back in response, his voice a raspy bemused whisper that came out in a short breath.

Instead of replying with mere words, Regina found his lips again with hers, her tongue delving into the warm moist depth of his mouth. But she only lingered for a short while before tracing a trail of light kisses down to his neck. She kissed and nibbled his sensitive skin, feeling and liking how his unsteady pulse beat against her lips.

"That's… not what I mean." She said, closing her eyes and chuckling at the absurdity of it all. If she knew they shouldn't be making out, then why was she encouraging him and even acting on her own so things could happen?

"Regina, look at me." He mumbled back, his hands pressing her ass against him even more and making her feel that on his part, he wanted her and very badly.

Swallowing hard down and feeling very aware that his erection was right where it should be, hard and throbbing against her wetness, she opened her eyes and found herself lost in the depths of his blue stare.

It felt hypnotic to look into his eyes and unable to tear her gaze away, she felt him entering her with a firm push that made her gasp.

"Don't think about it… just feel it." He rasped, the low undertones of his voice sending a slight tremor down her spine.

Taking a deep breath, Regina was about to say that she couldn't just stop her mind from thinking. How could she turn her mind off? Sure, she could let him drag her into the moment and she knew she would happily succumb into his touch, but what about the aftermath?

She didn't want to get confused… she didn't want things to get complicated.

But before she could say that, he withdrew out of her almost completely and the he settled back in, filling her completely. Unable to help it, she moaned softly at the feeling and taking that as a win, his lips searched desperately for hers so they could kiss with renewed passion.

Already losing the battle, Regina used her own hands to memorize the contours of his muscular arms, the wonders of his strong back, his broad chest and his hard stomach; her tongue did the same with the cave of his mouth.

It was irremediable, maybe it always was and she has just been delaying things. Tinker Bell had said it… it was in their stars…

Wrapping her legs around him, she allowed herself to be dragged with the wave and he took her along with him, the two of them fusing as one and enjoying things for what they were.

She would definitely change her mind about giving into him as soon as morning came and before a day could pass she would be sure that there was nothing between them but a deep friendship that couldn't and wouldn't cross any more boundaries, but for that night she gave up completely and as she came undone in his arms, she couldn't help but to imagine how easy it would be to live her life like that, with him


	5. Chapter 5

"So how are you and Robin doing this 'we are just friends who have sex in hopes of having a baby' thing?"

Running the tip of her tongue hard against the edge of her teeth, Regina tilted her head to the side and fixed the woman standing at the other side of the kitchen's island with a harsh glare.

"I beg your pardon?" Hissing the words, Regina tilted her head up and for a moment, she stopped peeling apples so that she could pay attention to the intruder.

Shrugging, the blonde just arched an eyebrow and reciprocated the stare off, bluish green eyes inquiring into the warm chocolate orbs of Regina.

"You know… how is it going between you two?" She asked at last, a small smirk making her lips curve maliciously. "Still feeling, how was that you said it… emotionally detached?"

Placing the palms of both her hands against the granite countertop and leaning forward the slightest bit, Regina blinked slowly. "Not that this is any of your business, Miss Swan, but we are doing just fine. Now do you care to explain what are you doing in my kitchen?"

Taking the liberty of taking a seat, Emma drew in a deep breath. "Bullshit. I don't know if you remember this but I know when people lie to me and Regina, you are lying right now. Oh but I knew this was going to happen; with the way he looks at you and let's be honest, how you look at him…." Snorting, Emma shook her head and took one of the apples and bit into it.

Curling her upper lip and refusing to look away, Regina waited a second before replying. "I don't look at him in any particular way." And she really didn't, quite the contrary, she has made a special effort not to look at him like at all whenever they would cross paths and even though she was sure he noticed this sudden change in her, she could say without a doubt that no one else could detect the tension emanating from her in such huge waves.

At least she didn't believe so.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, you know."

Puffing out a breath, Regina reached forward for the apple Emma took from her basket and after snatching it from the woman's hand she threw it into the sink.

"What do you want?"

"Did you know that Henry has a girlfriend?"

Satisfied because she could say that she has known for a while now, Regina smiled a genuine smile. "I did, didn't you?"

"Ugh," Emma groaned. "Not until I saw him trying to swallow her face… in my couch!" Shivering at the memory, the blonde made a grimace. "I think it was a traumatic event for all three of us."

Turning a bit serious at the knowledge that her son was old enough to be making out with that Darling girl, Regina pushed the inside of her cheek with her tongue and considered things.

"Maybe if you wouldn't lead by example, he wouldn't be doing that kind of… things."

Chuckling and opening her eyes as wide as she could, Emma did a double take. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well Henry told me that you have Hook spending the night over sometimes so of course he is going to get ideas in his mind."

"What? I've never done anything inappropriate in front of him. Maybe he got the idea from you sleeping with just a friend to get pregnant."

Gasping, it was Regina's turn to do a double take. "No, no, no… Henry has never been here when Robin comes over so…"

"Ah so he comes over often… Ha! You did hear my advice of doing it at least three times a week, didn't you?" Emma interrupted in a sing-a-like tone and Regina opened her mouth to reply.

But seeing that Emma somehow turned things around so that she could feed her morbid fascination with her relationship with Robin, she clasped her mouth back shut and straightened up.

"I'm not going to answer that. God, I don't even know why I confided this to you."

"Because it was either me or Mary Margaret and she would have called for a pink party in the name of love and babies."

"Filled with rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers." Regina snickered and Emma laughed out loud.

"Admit that besides Robin, I'm the closest thing to a friend that you have, that's why you told me."

Chewing on her lips, Regina considered it. Maybe it was true, but she wasn't going to admit it so freely. "You think? So should we start braiding each other's hair now?"

"Nah I think we can leave that for later."

Humming, Regina grabbed an apple and started peeling it.

"So what are you up to?"

"I'm making a pie…"

"And are you pregnant yet?"

Pouting her lips, Regina shook her head. "It's too early to tell. I did however wake up with the worst case of an upset stomach." She was still feeling kind of queasy about it but a hell of a lot better that in the morning.

"Oh, and isn't that one of the first signs of pregnancy?" Emma asked over excitedly.

Shaking her head and keeping her eyes focused on the apples, the raven haired shrugged. "Apparently, but even if I was with child, it would be too soon to have any kind symptoms; I think this is something I ate.

Now, even with her eyes casted into the forbidden fruit she was now cutting, Regina could easily visualize Emma shaking her head while grinning at her, her mind running a thousand miles per second with thoughts of babies coming to the world through her. Sometimes Emma was so much her mother's daughter that Regina had to snort.

But in some way, Regina could understand why the blonde was thinking like that, after all she _was_ trying to conceive and logic dictated that if she woke up throwing up like crazy like crazy, it was because she was pregnant.

Fortunately, Regina knew better than that and so her hopes wouldn't shatter later on if she wasn't pregnant. No, she had her dates very clear in her mind and she knew it was impossible to have pregnancy symptoms just a week after being intimate with Robin.

"Maybe it was that pizza Robin brought last night…"

"Oh, so our beloved Robin spent the night here?" Emma asked slyly and at that, Regina lifted her face and looked at her in the eyes.

"He didn't _spend_ the night; he and Roland came over for a while to watch a movie. Nothing happened if that's what your wicked mind is thinking. And honestly, nothing out of the ordinary happened; since their last time together not even an inappropriate touch had been exchanged between the two.

"Hmmm, and that was because you didn't want to or because he didn't throw the idea around? I mean this is a big house and once Roland fell asleep a lot of things could have happened… anywhere."

"You are impossible." Regina said curtly, rolling her eyes and breathing in. "I've told you this a thousand times, Robin and I are friends and nothing more."

"Yeah, friends that had sex twice in the hopes of making a baby. Yeah, I get it, crystal clear…" The blonde said pursing her lips while keeping her amused eyes on her.

As her response, Regina closed her eyes once and kept quiet. Sure, she could have told Emma how she hadn't had sex with Robin two times but actually three; but because she knew the woman would go crazy with that little information, she didn't say a thing.

Oh, but it has been three times indeed; because last night Robin and her were together they had done it once more in the middle of the night.

She could remember it clearly, many nights after it she has laid awake in bed, thinking on the way he was woken her up by the soft touch of his fingers before eventually having her one last time, their bodies tangled together and blending into one underneath her blankets.

Still to that day, thinking about that made her shiver and if she closed her eyes, she could almost feel the phantom of his lips moving against hers… she could also imagine the way his scent impregnated itself all over her sheets and body and the way he felt buried deep inside of her… not that she was going to tell that to Emma… the same way she wasn't going to say out loud that the previous night she had hoped Robin would stay over so that he could sneak into her room in the middle of the night…

Luckily for her he never did; because now that a new day was there, Regina realized that she should never allow herself to get carried away in such a manner with him again.

Yes, it has been more than nice to be with him like that, but her feelings towards him where getting compromised and she couldn't allow that to happen. As she told Emma, they were just friends and now she had it very clear in her mind that nothing of the like should happen again; unless she didn't get pregnant and he still wanted to try it the 'conventional' way.

She hoped it didn't come to that because she couldn't see herself sleeping with him once again without changing completely the nature of their friendship.

And really, last night has been bad, it has been the first time they saw each other since their encounter and she was sure that the air has been thick with tension.

It was almost bad enough to make her choke on it and if it wasn't because Robin brought Roland and a movie to watch with her, she wouldn't have known how to engage in an easy conversation with him.

So they just watched the movie, ate pizza and after he went away, with Roland fast asleep and Regina confused with what she really wanted.

"You could still be pregnant though, I mean that's why you are sleeping with him, right?"

"Yes; but that was only a week ago and actual implantation won't occur yet. If I get officially pregnant, it will be near the day of my period and that's another week away."

"But that was not the first time you two sleep together. What if you got pregnant that first time and you didn't know."

Opening her eyes once again, Regina thought about what Emma said and frowned. "No, no… I got my period."

"Well anyway, while you spaced out a minute ago, I texted Robin and asked him to get you a pregnancy test."

Groaning and running her fingers through her hair, Regina threw her head back and settled her eyes to the ceiling. "Emma… why did you do that?"

First, she didn't want Robin to think she was seeing things where there were none and second, if she took a pregnancy test, she wanted to do it alone. She didn't want Robin and let alone Emma waiting outside her bathroom door to know a result she knew to be negative.

"Well, because if I asked Killian to buy it instead he would have freaked out and I don't want that. He would have thought the test was for me! Besides he hasn't gotten around to texting… or cell phones for that matter."

"Emma… I don't want Robin to…"

"You don't want Robin to what?" At the sound of that accent, Regina turned her head to the side and saw no other than the man in question walking into her kitchen with a few bags in his hand.

"To walk into a drug store to stare dumbly at a full rack of pregnancy tests without a clue of what to look for? Well too late."

"Ah come on, this is for the mother of your baby so don't be such a whiner." Emma laughed as she got to her feet to grab the bags from the man's hands. "Let me see what do you got?"

Grunting and pursing her lips, Regina saw as Emma started to take things out of the plastic bags, but all those things were candy and chocolates and at that she had to snort.

"Okay where is the test? Please don't tell me you didn't buy it."

"Really, I don't need a test… this is nothing."

"Yeah, one nothing that will probably pop out in nine months." Snorting, she turned to Robin and mumbled. She woke up puking her guts but you know how she is."

At that, Robin turned so that he could look at her in the eyes and Regina made a gesture to indicate that Emma was exaggerating.

"Are you alright?" After asking her that, he drew closer and lifted her chin with a knuckle. He probably did that out of concern and to take a closer look, but it made Regina swallow on dry.

For some reason his closeness was making her do that now, she realized it the previous night as he was leaving and kissed her cheek goodbye.

"Yeah, I just had an upset stomach earlier on. I'm fine now." She responded, her eyes fixing on his deep blue orbs.

"Okay, here it is. Come on Momma, just pee on this and we'll know if this upset stomach will swell up your belly to limits beyond belief."

With that said, Emma opened the box, ripped the plastic wrapper of the test open and put it in Regina's hand.

Moving her face from his touch, she clicked her tongue to her cheek and shrugged.

"Fine, I'll humor you but don't expect anything, alright?" Rolling her eyes, the oldest of the two women put her feet in motion and made it into her bathroom, but before closing the door she told both Emma and Robin that it was ridiculous to make her take that test when she knew she wasn't pregnant.

But she did it anyway, she knew that there was no way to escape Emma once her mind was set on something. So doing her thing, Regina put the used test over a paper towel over her sink and then she took a long look at her reflection through the mirror.

She was looking pale, way too pale for her own good but that was probably because she was feeling ill. Maybe she should sneak into her room and put some color in her face, she didn't want to look a complete mess now that Robin was there…

Shrugging and looking down at the test, the former Evil Queen opened her clear chocolate eyes as wide as they would go and then took the test in her hand to look at it a bit closer.

Robin has bought one of those that were easy to read, it either said pregnant or not pregnant… and hers, well… unless she was misreading it and she didn't think so, said pregnant.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Every time she walked into a room, any room whatsoever, people would stare at her. It was almost as if she was stepping into a new dimension where she was the only being that moved and everyone else was doomed to watch. Some observed in distrust and others with repressed hatred; she was aware of that and probably because she knew their reasons, she couldn't help but to feel their eyes following her every move.

Now, she reacted to the leers and the sneers that they wouldn't dare doing in her face in a stoic manner, meaning that any outsider would have the impression that she didn't even notice or cared, but the truth was deep within her, it bothered her quite a lot.

Especially after all she has done to vindicate herself; but it was what it was, to some she would always be the Evil Queen no matter what and in their minds it was a matter of time before she would surprise them all and strike again.

Now, for them to think that she would easily succumb to her old ways was ridiculous, but sometimes when she could feel them watching, she would play with the idea of swirling abruptly on her heels and lifting her hands as if she was about to strike. She would do it just for the hell of it, to see the looks in their faces… but she never got around to do it… not by lack of opportunity but by decision.

Oh but the thought of it always made her lips curve into a smirk and that day, as she walked across the room, she flipped at her raven black hair and arched an eyebrow without even sparing a glance to those around her. She just kept going, walking haughtily as ever while everyone just looked.

"Can I have a double chocolate malt?"

Blinking her eyes and transforming her smirk into a soft smile, Regina looked at the little boy holding her hand and pursed her lips. "Double chocolate? I don't know… that sounds like too much sugar." And she wasn't even sure if such a thing even existed.

"Please, pleaseeee! I was good at school today and when I'm good my Papa lets me have one." The boy said jumping up and down and chuckling at his never ending energy, she bit on her lips and looked up to the ceiling as if looking for an answer.

"She'll say yes, she always falls for this little one. Now when I was that age, she wouldn't even consider letting me have a double chocolate malt. She would have banned them from this place if she even knew they were being made."

Parting her lips and turning around so that she could take a look at her son, Regina pressed her tongue to the edge of her teeth and blew out a breath. "That's not true." She said looking at him and then moving her face to the side so that she could face the girl besides him, she frowned. "That's not true."

"So can I have one?"

Humming and turning back to Roland, Regina smiled again. "Let's make a deal. I'll get you a regular chocolate malt and I'll tell Henry to buy you some popcorn at the movies."

"Yes!" Roland yelped excitedly and together, the four of them went to order. Once that was done and as she waited to pay, Regina watched absent mindedly as the two adolescents held hands and whispered in each other's ears while Roland slurped happily his malt. As she watched, one of her hands came to automatically rub against the bump of her belly. Sure, it was hidden underneath her coat so that not too many people were aware that she was pregnant, but it was there and getting bigger and bigger as the time kept passing.

"You'll keep an eye of him, right? I mean no making out so that he could sneak out." She asked and not for the first time since Henry told her that Robin gave him permission to take the boy to the movie theater.

"Mom…" Henry said in a less than happy tone of voice and Regina smiled. Ever since her son had a girlfriend, he got annoyed easily and over nothing and for some reason, she quite enjoyed that.

Who knew, maybe Emma's antics were starting to rub on her and now one of her favorite things was to see her son get flustered.

"Just say yes."

"Yes, I'll watch over him, I've told you already, and Robin and Mary Margaret…"

"We'll keep an eye on him… and we'll not make out." Wendy said sweetly and quirking her lips, Regina tried to force out a smile.

"Keep four eyes on him."

Nodding her head, Wendy giggled when Henry kissed her cheek and Regina watched through half-closed eyelids as they interacted. She didn't like it, quite frankly and not because she disliked the girl, she just didn't like the idea of Henry being old enough to be acting all lovely dopey and right in front of her.

She was about to say something of the matter when she heard it, someone hissing behind her back.

"I don't understand why Robin let's her take care of his kid…"

Turning around so that she could see who said that, Regina arched an eyebrow and saw no other than Grumpy. He was talking to another of his dwarf friends and when he saw her looking, he lifted his head in defiance.

It made Regina curl her lips into a snarl and her mood took a turn into acrid, but still, when she spoke she did it in such a low tone so that the kids wouldn't hear. "You have something to say to me, dwarf?"

Snorting, Grumpy shrugged. "Just what you just heard." With that, he grabbed his order and without bothering to wait for her response, he turned around and left.

"Mom, we are going to go now. The movie starts in ten minutes."

Pursing her lips and watching as the small man walked out the door, Regina nodded and said her farewells without letting the kids become aware of her mood. Then, she waited a little before walking out the door herself and when she did, she was basically seething.

Now, outside, she focused on getting to her car because she has never been good at holding back the most spontaneous part of her nature and unfortunately for her, she was most spontaneous when she was mad and she didn't want to give into her impulses; it was for that reason that she wanted to get into the safety of her house as soon as possible, so that she could calm down and so that she could keep from doing something stupid.

But before she could even reach her car, she saw out of the corner of her eyes that Robin was down the street and apparently, he was making his way to her.

She kept walking anyway, and when he passed by her side he stopped on his tracks and grabbed her by the arm. "Hey- you alright?"

Feeling the tug in her arm, Regina turned to him and placing both hands to her face, she grunted. Then, through clenched teeth she replied. "I just want to get the hell out of here and the sooner the better."

With that said, she took in a deep breath and felt the way he grabbed her hands and made her look into the depths of his blue eyes. "Alright, tell me what happened." He said in a low whisper, his hands moving to the back of her head while he angled her face towards his.

Blinking slowly but refusing to tear her eyes away from him, Regina licked her lips and breathed in.

Now, in the last five months of her life, this has been the closest she has been to Robin and somehow his proximity was disconcerting. Now she could remember the reason why she has gone all the way to mark a clear distance between them, because he would make her feel things that she would rather ignore.

But now there he was, and add to that the way his eyes were digging into her own and the way his fingers buried themselves into her hair and that was it; in a matter of nothing she forgot all about Grumpy and all that remained were memories of times past gone invading her mind in such a way that she had to close her eyes to collect herself.

"I just… I'm not feeling so well. I want to leave." Opening her eyes and finding that he was still there, a breath away from her, Regina bit the inside of her lips and said nothing more.

As for Robin, he moved his eyes to her lips and then back to her soft brown orbs and for a wild second, she imagined that he got a bit closer and she thought that he was going to kiss her.

But he didn't, he just dropped his hands from her hair and placed them over her shoulders. "Not feeling well in a 'I want to go to the hospital' kind of way or in a 'I just want to the get the bloody hell out of here' kind of way."

Snorting despite her sour mood, Regina shook her head and smiled. "The second one, I'll go anywhere but here."

"Is that so; well then let me treat you real nice. I just saw Roland get into the movies with your son so I have time to spare. So what do you say, dinner and a movie?"

Humming, Regina realized that what he just suggested was the worse idea ever. She didn't trust herself with him anymore and for that reason only, she has been evading to end up anywhere where there would only be themselves. True, she has seen the man and interacted with him in many occasion in the last months, but as of yet they hadn't met anywhere one on one and in her mind, there was a very good damn reason to let it stay that way… but still, for some reason she ended up agreeing.

"Deal if we get some take outs and rent something to watch in my place."

"Then it's a deal."

Opening her mouth to reply, Regina felt the baby kick and instead of words she gasped. In the months that had gone by since she found out about her pregnancy, this was the first time that she felt her baby kicked and she couldn't help but to get excited.

"Oh my God, Robin…" She said, taking his hands in hers and placing them over her stomach. "The baby kicked."

"Really?" He asked, looking into her eyes and smiling one of his dimple smiles.

Nodding and keeping her hand covering his Regina bit hard on her lips and stopped breathing. For a few seconds the world remained still and then there it was, another kick.

"Ah, I felt it… I think we have here a strong little one. I think she's going to be a hard one like her momma."

"And what makes you think it will be a girl." She asked,

Leaning forward so that he could talk in her ear, Robin dragged one of his hands to her hip and then he whispered. "I just know."

Chewing on her lips and closing her eyes as his breath caressed her ear, Regina smiled. Yes, maybe going with Robin would help nothing in clearing her mind about what she wanted or needed, but if truth be told, there was no one she would rather be with than him in that moment…


	7. Chapter 7

Walking out of her kitchen and holding in her right hand a glass full of icy cold lemonade, the former Mayor of the town made it into her living room to find Robin siting on the floor, his elbow resting against her sofa, his chin cradled into the palm of his hand and his eyes focused in the image playing through her TV screen.

He looked fully concentrated in watching trailers for upcoming movies and for a few seconds, all she did was look at him through sparkling brown eyes, her head shaking slightly as she bit on her lips to suppress the smile that wanted to break in her face.

"You started watching the movie without me?"

At her words, his clear blue eyes changed the direction of their attention and he looked at her. "Of course not." He smiled cheekily and if she wasn't mistaken, she saw mischief in his eyes.

Humming and trying to ignore that look, the dark haired expecting mother handed him the glass she served for him and looking away, she searched for the remote to hit the play button.

"So tell me again, of all the movies there are to see in this world, why do you want to see this one?"

Chewing on the corner of her lips, Regina shrugged. "It's not like I want to see it… but out of the options I think it's the better one." And really, for some reason that she didn't want to muse about, she forgot to stop to rent a movie and browsing through the ones Henry still had around, she found that one to be the best one.

It was his girlfriend's and well… it couldn't be as bad as spending the night watching a movie about some creatures called zombies that feed off the brains of people so that they could all become walking dead spooks. That was what Robin wanted to see and clearly she said no.

"What? You don't like vampires?"

"I don't know, I've never met one." Robin said with a shrug before taking a sip of his lemonade, then he put the glass over her coffee table and sent her the same look he did a while ago.

Rolling her eyes and ignoring him once again, Regina made sure that the settings to her home theater were working and then she breathed out.

"Well here's one for you, vampires are like refined zombies. I mean they are dead and they feast off people; the only difference is that vampires can use their brains and thus, they are intelligent creatures."

Looking up at her and fixing all the intensity of his eyes on hers, Robin ran the tip of his tongue over his lips while smirking. The gesture made Regina remember the wonders that tongue could provoke in her body and feeling a heat creeping up her face, she had to look away from him.

"I'm not even going to comment on that Regina… I mean really?" He said, his tone low and raspy.

Blinking a couple of times, Regina just shrugged and said nothing. Ah, but it may be that her mouth refused to utter a word, but her mind was working at full speed.

She just didn't know what was with her that night because really, that right there hadn't been the only time her thoughts had betrayed her so that she would look at Robin as something more than just the friend he was.

It started at dinner, somehow he had convinced her to eat out and while they were eating and talking, she couldn't stop looking at him. At first it was nothing, she was just thinking that even though her friend wasn't the most handsome man she has ever seen, there was certain appeal to him that was hard to ignore.

She particularly liked his eyes and the way they could dig right through her, the way his smile illuminated his whole face and sure, the fact that the aura he carried with him was so strong that she was sure that if she didn't hold on for dear life, he was going to suck her in.

So like she said, at first it was nothing, but after a while the thoughts didn't stop and they just lead her to remember how his hands felt on her skin, how his lips would search for hers in the brims of his passion and how it felt to have him buried so deep inside of her that it was hard to say where she ended and where he began…

Of course, every time her thoughts would drift in that direction she had to remind herself that she and Robin were nothing more than good friends that shared a few intense moments in the past but that was it.

There couldn't be more than that and because of that friendship, they were just going to finish an amicable night watching a movie. It wouldn't be the first time they would do that and if their friendship remained intact, it wasn't going to be the last either.

So there, in essence she had things clear in her mind and what she needed was to relax and put her mind in blank.

"Come here,"

Breaking out of her trance, Regina looked at Robin and saw that he was extending one of his hands to her. She wasn't sure why he was doing that but out of instinct she reached forward anyway and allowed him to engulf her hand with his.

What happened next happened fast; he gave a gentle pull at her and before she knew it, she was sitting in the floor with him, right between his legs as her back rested to his chest.

"Will you be able to get up later on?"

Nodding, Regina chewed on her lips and tried to focus on the movie; but as soon as Robin pulled her closer to him and rested his hands on her pregnant stomach, her attention span was altered.

Now, it wasn't like he hadn't touched her way more intimately than that before, but that particular night and in that specific moment, she could feel as if his hands were burning her skin through the soft fabric of her dress.

The feelings he was provoking called for immediate action so she just tried to kill whatever it was that was going on with her with things that wouldn't allow her libido to take over.

"Do you ever wonder… what would people say when they find out about the baby?"

"What do you mean?"

Shrugging, Regina blew out a breath. "You are a well-liked man around and I am clearly not one of the most popular residents so do you think it will bother you when they start questioning you about this."

Once that was said, she held her breath and waited for a response.

"I guess… that it will bother me if they say bad things about you, otherwise I don't care what they think or say. What about you? Will it bother you?"

"No." She lied. "I'm used to people talking behind my back and looking at me over their shoulders."

"They do that because they don't know you and well, people who don't know you have this… image of you and they react upon it."

"Did you have that so called image when you first meet me?"

"Oh yes, and not only I had the image and first hand experience, but I also had the 'privilege' of being on your bad side since day one so I think I can attest that you are indeed a hard woman. You are hard to get to know and you are definitely hard in all aspects. But once people break through your walls, they realize how amazing you really are."

To that, she didn't say anything, she just mused about his words, relaxed against him and tried to watch the movie.

It wasn't until later on when she felt and heard Robin snorting from his place behind her that she shifted a little, feeling the way his left hand slid closer to her belly bottom to settle there.

"That's ridiculous, a vampire can't have sex and let alone get a woman pregnant."

At his words, Regina tilted her head to the side and smiled. "Leave it to Robin Hood to overanalyze a movie… yeah, what a shocker." And really, for the entire year they had spent as friends, they had seen many a movie and well, for someone who used a magic bow and has seen things that would be beyond the comprehension of the world outside, he was extremely skeptic.

"No, think about it. You said it yourself earlier on, vampires are dead and well, we all know that for a man to have sex he has to have an erection and with no blood running through his veins, that's just impossible."

Shaking her head and pouting her lips, Regina breathed in. The basics of an erection was the last thing in the world she wanted to discuss with him, especially when he was so close that she could feel his breathing brushing against the back of her neck.

"I think she cheated on the vampire with the wolf; that is the only logical explanation for that crap. That's why the baby is growing up so fast; the gestational span for a werewolf is shorter than in humans so yeah, she cheated."

Unable to help it, Regina laughed at his logic. "You are crazy."

"Wait until the baby pops out, when you see it covered in fur and growling, you won't be calling me crazy."

Shaking her head, Regina pushed the inside of her cheek with her tongue and rested her head against his shoulder.

"You should have been a wolf; I mean don't get me wrong here because this is what I wanted, but most of the time I think this pregnancy is taking forever."

And in her mind it really was; she loved knowing that her dream of becoming a mother again was finally coming true, sure, but at the same time she couldn't wait for the baby to be born. First because she wanted to hold him or her in her arms and second because the symptoms of a pregnancy were not fun to deal like at all.

"Why is that?" He whispered in her ear and for a second, she could almost swear that she felt his lips brushing against the skin bellow her ear.

Clearing her throat and not letting her mind play tricks on her, the Raven haired took in a deep breath and then she blew it through her mouth. "Well because for the last few months all I've been feeling is nausea. I can't eat without feeling indigestion, my back is in constant pain and I'm tired all the time. That's without mentioning that I get cramps in my leg when I'm trying to sleep, I get emotional over silly things and I need to constantly visit the bathroom to… okay I think that's enough information for now."

At her unusual ramble, Robin chuckled and she smiled in return.

"Captivating, isn't it? I bet I look just as I feel."

"Well; you may not see it right now but pregnancy is very captivating, and you look great."

Shrugging, Regina quirked her lips. "I guess, I mean if you like your women bloated and moody I think it can be very captivating."

Clicking his tongue to his cheek, Robin dragged both his hands up her stomach and catching her by surprise, he cupped her tender breasts and weighted them in.

"You are getting bigger."

Swallowing hard down, Regina lowered her eyes to his hands and then she blinked slowly. Was he really touching her there?

"Yeah, bigger all over. Thanks for pointing that out too." She forced her voice out, proud that it didn't come up embarrassingly as a high pitched squeal.

Breathing out and squeezing her lightly, Robin brushed his lips to her ear. This time she knew it was real and she parted her lips to breathe out.

"Does this make you feel uncomfortable?"

Regina shook her head, watching as his fingers started to push her dress down so that her bra was exposed for the pleasure of his hands. Not that he went further than that, he just allowed his thumb to trace lazily the outline of her plain cotton brazier.

"I feel a little tender but it is okay."

Lowering his face, Robin breathed into her scent and then as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he pressed his lips to her shoulder and started to kiss a path of fire towards the underside of her jaw.

That right there made her shiver and closing her eyes, she placed her hands over his thighs.

Robin… sometimes, before finding out for sure that she was pregnant, she would lay in bed thinking about him and in many nights she wished he would appear out of thin air to relieve the ache that thinking about him would provoke; but with time those silly thoughts started to fade away until she would only look at the intimate moments they shared as something beautiful that ended up with the amazing gift of her much desired pregnancy…

But now that his hands were touching her and that his tongue was savoring her skin, she couldn't help but to remember the way he could make her tremble with his lovemaking.

Maybe it was all in her crazy pregnant hormones, but the fact was that she could already feel a wetness gathering in her panties as her blood started to boil while it ran through her veins.

"Does it make you feel nervous?"

Not feeling like lying about it, she nodded. "A little." Ah, but more than nervous she felt eager and she didn't want him to stop.

Thankfully he didn't, he just allowed his fingers to play with her hardening nipples through the fabric that covered them and after a while, he lowered one of his hands… letting it slide down to her stomach, lower to her thigh and then right underneath her dress.

Biting her lips hard, Regina closed her eyes and threw her head back against him. By then his hand had found its way to that sweet spot between her legs and he was touching here right there, his fingers exploring her without sneaking inside her panties while his lips and tongue continued to tease the flesh of her neck and shoulders.

"Robin-" She breathed out, not sure what she really wanted to say. To tell him keep going or ask him to stop?

"Shhh, just enjoy it."

With that said, he used his other hand to spread her legs a bit further apart and then he pressed one digit to the small bundle of nerves she kept guarded as her most precious treasure, the same one that ached to be treated accordingly.

Sure, he was doing it through the already soaking fabric of her underwear but that didn't mean that it didn't provoke the desired reaction on her.

Letting out a soft moan, Regina opened her eyes and then closed them again. At that point her blood was boiling, she could even feel it ringing in her ears and she was sure that if his fingers ventured to touch her flesh to flesh, she was going to come undone in a matter of nothing.

She wanted him to touch her like it was meant to be, she needed it.

"Robin, please…"

Not having to be asked twice, Robin slid his hand underneath her panties and his forefinger came to run in slow circles against her nub. It made her tremble and her hands squeezed his thighs.

Now, she wasn't sure how things lead to what was happening, all she knew was that what he was doing felt too damn good. Her head was swimming, her breathing was a bit labored and her entire being was vibrating with his touch.

She wanted more… she needed it.

"You are so wet." He pointed out in a dark whisper and then without more preambles, he pushed a lone long finger through her opening and after thrusting it one time and then two times, Regina gasped brokenly.

He repeated the motion, and little by little she felt her desire reaching its peak. With a suffocated moan, her release began to flow out of her in huge waves and Robin slowly added another finger to his sweet torture.

The sensation was incredible, so intense that her hips automatically darted forward as a way to feel him deeper inside of her and while she rode her climax down, Robin never ceased to kiss her cheek, her neck and her collarbone.

It was amazing… everything about it was amazing and she particularly liked that his fingers never slid out of her, for the longest they just remained there, buried inside of her.

It was only when she was back to her senses that he slowly pulled them out and that was the exact moment that she chose to open her eyes.

Content and more than satisfied, Regina got up to her knees and turning around to face the tattooed man, she went to kiss him.

Robin met her halfway, pressing his lips to hers briefly and then pulling away. "Better?"

Licking her lips, Regina lowered her eyes. Judging by what she could see there, Robin was having certain discomfort inside his pants and she wanted to relieve it.

That was the reason why she lowered her hand to his more than obvious erection and took a secure hold of it. It felt nice, she was yet to feel the pure essence of his manhood in any other place that wasn't inside of her or pressing against her stomach and that night she wanted to feel it in her hand.

Who knew, if things went well and if he wanted it, she could even feel it in her mouth…

"Regina-" He said in a warning, grabbing her hand to push it away from his erection.

Frowning, the dark haired looked into his clouded blue eyes and blinked slowly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong; you just don't have to do that." He said, returning her stare intently.

"You don't want me to?" She asked, confused.

Snorting, Robin closed his eyes for a second and then he opened them to keep looking at her. "It's not that I don't want it, but I didn't do what I did just so you could return the favor. I just wanted to make you feel good."

Feeling her heart clenching and her breathing halting, Regina backed away until she was sitting in front of him. "Favor?"

Chuckling and running her hand through her hair, Regina closed her eyes and shook her head. Favor… she hated that word because in many occasion she believed that he granted her the favor of getting her pregnant because she asked him and that was it.

Now, months later he was doing her another favor by…

Opening her eyes before finishing her thoughts, Regina started talking again. "And what made you think I needed that kind of favor? Do I look needy; did I look like I needed a pity hand fuck before I could finish watching the movie?"

Opening his eyes as wide as he could, Robin shook his head. He probably noticed her obvious change of mood and he automatically knew she was upset. "Regina, that's not what I meant." He said, trying to reach for her.

But before he could touch her, she got to her feet with an agility that surprised her and turning around she started to walk away. "I know what you meant so save it."

With that said, she blindly made it into her bathroom and locking the door behind her back, she pressed her back to the door and cradled her face in her hands.

She could feel her eyes watering behind her closed eyelids and she tried to breathe evenly to prevent the tears to fall.

"Regina." Came the voice of Robin through the other side and she heard him trying to open the door. "Come on, open the door."

Shaking her head even though she knew he couldn't see her, she opened her eyes and wiped angrily at her tears.

She just couldn't believe she was so weak for him… that she almost begged him to help her reach her release only to have him turn her down minutes later.

"Talk to me. Please."

Clearing her throat and blinking her tears away, she lifted her head up high to speak. "I want to be alone. Just leave…"

For the longest while there was only silence, but then she heard him trying to open the door once again. "I'm not going to leave until we talk.

"I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Then I'll wait here all night long. You have to get out of there eventually."

Closing her eyes again, Regina smacked her head lightly against the door and breathed out. She knew Robin, and she knew that if he said that he was going to stay there waiting, then he was going to stay there waiting. He was stubborn like that.

Walking ahead to the faucet so she could splash water to her face, she looked at her reflection through the mirror and then she stripped down naked.

She wanted to take a shower, before walking out that door she needed to feel clean of his touch and the sooner she did that, the better.

Once that was done, she grabbed a towel and wrapping it around her body, she opened the door.

Robin was waiting there like she had expected, standing right in front of her.

"I don't really want to talk about this now so just let me be." After saying that, she tried to walk pass him; if he wanted to stay there all night then fine, but she was not going to talk. She was going to bed.

But before she could even take two steps, he grabbed the back of her head and easily guided her face to his.

It was a brief kiss, probably shorter than the one they shared back in her living room. "Then don't talk, but you won't shut me out." And then, he kissed her again, only that this time he slid his tongue deep into her mouth to kiss her properly.

Unable to help it, she placed her hands to his chest and allowed him to kiss her, her own tongue moving against his as he wrapped his arm around her.

She didn't know how it happened, but with that kiss he put her anger in jeopardy and it wasn't until much, much later that the subject was really discussed.


	8. Chapter 8

Ever since he her head came to rest on top of her pillow, Regina hadn't been able to fully fall asleep. No… for the good part of the last hour or so she has just been laying immobile on her side, staring through the window at the darkness taking over outside and chewing compulsively on her bottom lip while time moved around her with continued speed.

By then she was starting to feel uncomfortable; her arm was tingling, there was quite an ache settling within her skull and she even felt like going to the bathroom; but because she could feel the weight of Robin's arm resting against her hip, she didn't dare to move.

It was just that… well, to start things off, she was very aware that Robin always had a hard time falling asleep and she didn't want to wake him up; after all she was almost sure that he was in a deep sleep and the last thing she wanted was to disturb him.

And the second reason and probably the one thing that she wanted to prevent the most; she didn't want him to wake up because she wasn't sure what she could say to him. With a clearer head, she was embarrassed at the way she reacted the previous night and trying to explain her motives would only lead her to talk about things she has been denying for a while.

Things like feelings and stuff…

True, if Robin was sharp on the perceptive side he should know by then; after all, if it wasn't because her feelings for him ran deeply than a close friendship, she wouldn't have easily fallen into his arms as she did a few hours ago.

But she did; he touched her and she was lost, he kissed her and she was doomed. Hell, even now that passions were satiated and the heat of the moment dwindled down, she was still feeling weak for him.

He had that effect on her. Just the memory of the sweet urgency in which he claimed her was enough to make her tremble in remembrance, but also, if she just closed her eyes, more than memories would take over and she would almost feel it…

Feel the way his strong hands had settled firmly on her hips to move her closer to him, feel weak as the memory of how his eyes bore intently into hers as he slowly drove into her deepest… feel on fire as he throbbed strong in her as they fused as one. It was all enough to send a shiver to run up her spine so she didn't really want to know what would happen when he would wake up.

In other words, she was now as helpless as she has been as she lay on her back earlier on so she wasn't ready to face him. The only difference was that instead of having her back arched as the need for more consumed her and her legs spread for him as he took her under the intensity of his eyes, she was just laying by him.

True, maybe he was provoking that reaction out of her because he was right behind her, his skin pressing against hers and his soft breathing caressing her shoulder. Ah, and that was without saying that she could still feel the essence of him inside of her, menacing to escape if she decided to get up on her feet.

Closing her eyes and biting the inside of her cheek, Regina breathed out.

She didn't know why she let things happen that night, but if she wanted to keep a nice strong hold on her sanity, she couldn't allow her acts to be guided by impulses anymore.

The first couple of times had been okay because they had a purpose, but now that their goal of conceiving a baby was fulfilled, there was no reason for them to keep sleeping together.

They were not lovers, they were just friends and friends didn't have sex with each other just because the need was there. No…she couldn't confuse things, she needed to keep her head clear.

Yes, it would be easy to ignore everything and play pretend for a while, but realistically speaking, she couldn't allow that because she wasn't the type of woman that men like Robin wanted to be with in the long run and that was something she couldn't forget. He was one of the good ones and she was just… her, a reformed Evil Queen that even though was doing better, was still broken in places that couldn't be mended.

It was how it was and even though he was going along with it now because… well, she didn't know why, but the thing was that if she let it keep going, things would get complicated and at the end of it all, they were going to end at odds and that was something she couldn't allow.

Besides Henry and the baby she was now expecting, Robin and Roland were the purest things she had and she didn't want to taint that just because she was feeling thing that she couldn't quite comprehend so no…

Blinking her soft brown eyes open and staring right through her window, the dark haired woman cleared her throat; for a while she remained like that, but then she slid out of bed and made it to her bathroom.

Once there, she relieved herself and after taking a quick shower to wash out the scent of him that somehow got permeated on her skin, she wrapped her nakedness with a towel.

Freshen up, she made it to her mirror and taking a look at her reflection, she pursed her lips.

No… there was no way she could allow her needs to take over everything. True, that night Robin has been the one who initiated the things that happened between them but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He was a man, he had a need for a woman and she was there… nothing more than that…

"Hey."

Jumping startled, Regina gasped and placed a hand over her chest. She hadn't been expecting for Robin to show up at the door of her bathroom and her surprise showed up in her reaction. "Robin… don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," He said unapologetically as he rested his back against the door frame. "Are you okay?"

Nodding and blinking a few times, Regina dropped her hand to the sink and looked at him through the reflection in the mirror. He was just standing there, eyes on her, arms crossed to his chest and his hair tousled from sleep. She also took notice that he had the decency to put on something before walking to her and even though the boxers were riding so low that she could see his hipbones clearly defined underneath his skin, at least he was wearing something.

"I'm fine; I just needed to stretch."

Nodding, Robin blinked slowly. He was looking all serious, or maybe that was his sleepy face, she wasn't sure…

"Come back to bed, I have a few minutes to spare before I have to go to pick up Roland."

Turning around but without taking a step towards him, the pregnant woman bit on her lips and sighed deeply.

"Why did you do this?" The question was out before she could weigh the consequences of his answer and as she waited for an answer, she had to hold her breath.

On his part, his lips curved into the shadow of a smile and he arched an eyebrow. "Why did I do what?"

Running her hand through her hair, Regina closed her eyes and shrugged. "Everything." She answered, her mind wondering why, if she was who she was, why did he become her friend when she did nothing than trying to push him away at first and why did he say yes when she asked him to be the father of her baby.

Tilting his head to the side, Robin went back to look at her serious. "Regina, my mind is all messed up so just tell me what you want to know clearly."

"Did you feel like I was forcing to say yes to this?" She said, opening her eyes and pointing at her belly.

Snorting, Robin walked to her and wrapping one of his hands around her waist, he grabbed her chin in his hand. "You wouldn't have been able to force me into having a baby with you even if you wanted. Regina, I think we talked about this already; I said yes because I liked the idea. I always kind of wanted to have another child and who better to be the mother than you?"

Shrugging, Regina looked away. "I don't know, a girlfriend perhaps?"

Out of the corner of her eye, he saw the way his lips curved into a grin. "A girlfriend… ha."

"Alright so you don't have any right now but what about later? You'll probably meet someone and I don't know… maybe you'll want to have a family of your own." And she said that because she was sure that he was going to find someone who wasn't as damaged as she was, someone with whom he was going fall head over heels with and when that moment came, she and her baby would pass to a second plane.

Not that she should mind, after all the first thing that she told him when she threw the proposal his way, was that he didn't even had to be a part of the baby's life if he didn't really want to.

"My family is set and right here, and Roland of course, so why would I want to have another one?"

Blinking rapidly, Regina looked at him. He was staring at her with all the intensity of his blue eyes and for a moment she lost the ability to speak.

"But anyway, now that we've turned this into a session of questions and answers, do you care to explain what happened earlier on?"

Groaning, the former Queen covered her eyes with her hand and then she took in a deep breath. "I don't know… I told you this pregnancy is making me over emotional and I just…" Blowing out a breath, she shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just confused."

Using both his hands to cradle her face, Robin tilted her head towards his. "Confused about what?"

"About all of this… about us. Things just got so complicated, and then you come and touch me and…"

Before she could finish, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers gently.

"And then you do things like this and…"

Interrupting her once again, Robin kissed her, lingering a while longer and then pulling away. "Regina…"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud noise was heard all through the house and jumping a little, Regina sucked in a breath. But then the distinct sound of giggles and running feet took over and she realized what was happening.

"Papa, Gina, we are here!"

Smiling and moving his hands to her waist, Robin clicked his tongue to his cheek and kissed her lips once more. "Well I don't think we have a few minutes to spare anymore. I'll get dressed and see what are these two up to."

With that said, he turned on his feet and went to gather his clothes to put them on. Regina just watched him as if in a trance, but as soon as he walked out the door she did the same thing he did and once she was ready and presentable, she walked downstairs to meet with Robin and the newcomers.

Despite the confusion in her mind, Regina smiled at the scene she encountered, Henry was sitting at the counter while drinking a coke and Roland was talking enthusiastically to his dad about the movie he just saw.

Robin was listening with obvious interest and as he noticed her entering the room, he sent a smile her way. It was a genuine smile full of things unsaid and for the life of her, she felt something tug at her heart and she just had to look away. It was disconcerting, that was another effect he suddenly had on her and she couldn't quite understand why.

"Mom," Henry said. "Can Wendy and I come by tomorrow?"

Going back to reality and opening her mouth as she blinked a few times, Regina tried to swallow down a chuckle. It was a futile attempt as it escaped her anyway. "Didn't you just see her today?" After saying that, she walked closer to the trio and fixed her hair behind her ear.

She did all that without looking at Robin but she could feel that his eyes were on her.

"Yes. But we have to study for a test and since Mo-Emma is on duty, she doesn't want us alone at the apartment."

Frowning but remembering the talk she had with Emma about the possibility of Henry getting… creative while alone with his girlfriend, Regina shrugged and tried to act as if it was no big deal. "Sure… I guess."

Oh but it was, for once she was in accordance with Emma and she didn't want Henry's difficult age to have repercussions because true, he was growing and well… things happened, but to her Henry was still a boy and she would hate the idea of him being in that… phase.

"Regina," Roland said from his father's arms and smiling, she looked at him. "If your baby will be my sister and my dad will be the dad of my sister, can you be my mom?"

Opening her eyes wide and wild and automatically searching for Robin's as if to find an answer to that unexpected question, Regina's heart stopped beating for a second to then renew it's beating with renewed force.

All that happened as her eyes remained glued to his and in response he refused to move his away. That right there didn't help in regulating the beating of her heart, no… not at all.

"And who says it will be a girl? It will be a boy." Henry said and Regina was thankful because as Roland's attention changed to her son, she had a bit more time to think of an answer to that question.

"My Papa says it will be a girl."

"We'll see about that."

"I do want it to be a boy, can it be a boy, Papa?" Roland mused and giggling, he snuck into the crook of his father's neck.

"Well…" Smiling and kissing the boy's head, Robin cleared his throat and got to his feet. His eyes were still on hers and as he moved closer, she looked away. "We better get going, it's pass your bedtime, champ."

"Yeah… it's getting late and I have to drop Henry at Emma's so…"

Moving even closer, so close that she could detect his scent, Robin hummed. "We have a talk pending though."

Nodding and looking at him once again, Regina tried to smile. It didn't work though so clearing her throat, she rubbed lovingly the boy's back. "Bye Roland, sleep tight."

At her words, Roland broke from his father's embrace and faced her, throwing his arms around her neck and kissing her cheek. "Bye, mom."

Before she could react to that, the boy pulled away and then his proximity was replaced with Robin's, the man kissing the corner of her lips.

"Goodnight, Regina." And then, he finally retreated and walked out the door.

Frozen in place, she watched them go until she felt Henry wrapping an arm around her waist and chuckling. "And then you say I can't make out with Wendy."

Snorting, Regina turned to her son and opening her mouth to reply, she shook her head. "I did not make out and so, neither will you." Her voice came out raspy and serious and much to her dismay, Henry just chuckled again.

"Sure, mom… sure." With that, he walked back into the house.

As for Regina, she just stood there, hoping that their talk could wait at least a few days; enough so she could put her mind in order and come with a clear conclusion about what she was really feeling for her best friend…


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh my God, Regina, look at you!"

Before the former Queen could lift her face up to take a good look at the person who yelped those words out loud, she felt the unmistakable sensation of someone wrapping their arms around her to give her a hug and she voiced her surprise with a small gasp, her face contorting in a grimace as she lifted her hands up to then let them drop limply by her sides.

Now, the invasion to her personal space took her by surprise because one, she wasn't exactly the most warm person in town and thus she wasn't exactly used to such gestures of affection and second, because the last thing she has been expecting or wanting as she walked around was for someone who she didn't even get see to hug her out of the blue.

Not that she really needed to look at this person to know who she was, after all she could recognize the exaggerated cheerful and perhaps annoying voice of Snow White anytime, anywhere.

"I know, I know, I'm huge." She said with an awkward chuckle, pulling back to cut the contact short.

"No, no; I mean you are definitely bigger that last time I saw you but that was to be expected; you still look great. Even your hair looks amazing, it has gotten so long!"

Rolling her eyes, Regina brushed the woman off because sure, it was true that they had put their differences aside long ago, but it was still awkward to interact with her as if nothing out of the ordinary has ever happened between them.

"It's the pregnancy glow, it settles with you beautifully." Snow stated, taking the liberty of putting her hands on Regina's belly to feel it around. "When I was pregnant… uff," She snorted as she remembered. "I really got huge, I was way too emotional, I was starving all the time, my feet were swollen, I walked like a penguin… and I felt so, so tired all the time. You seem to be bearing so much better."

Opening her mouth and then closing it again, Regina blew out a breath and shook her head no because well… she wasn't feeling so great looking as Snow was making it sound.

But before she could voice her own afflictions, she saw out of the corner of her eye how a few residents of town passed them by and took notice on both her now obvious pregnancy and Snow White's hands on it. Most of them seemed surprise because even though she was not trying to hide her pregnancy, she hadn't gotten out much announcing it and because of that, most of them didn't know…

Until that moment, that was.

"So what brings you down here?"

Clicking her tongue to her cheek and trying to ignore the curious looks people were sending her way, Regina shifted her weight to her left foot as she remembered the reason why she was there. "I was actually looking for Robin."

"Oh. I just saw him, he's with my husband at the sheriff station. He's you know, David, the baby and I are going on a little vacation and he's going to cover for David until we come back."

"Yes, I've heard." Regina said. A few days ago, Robin has called to check on her and he mentioned that. He had also reminded her that they had a talk pending and after being forced to promise that she was going to come by soon so that they could have said talk, there she was.

That has been more than a week ago and truth be told, she wasn't still feeling ready for that talk, but she figured out that postponing it wasn't going to her any favors so she decided to go to him that day. Whatever would happen, it better happen soon.

"Okay, I'll leave you to that then. I left the baby with Ruby and I bet she's pulling at her hair right now." With that, Snow gave her another hug and then she was wandering off the street.

Watching her go, Regina adjusted her coat so that it could cover more of her pregnant stomach and then, shaking her head she kept walking to the building she wanted to get. Once there, she opened the door and saw Emma sitting behind the desk doing some paper work.

"Hey," The blonde said. "Seems like it's visiting day for my deputies."

Quirking her lips, Regina took a look around. "Swan, looks like you are doing your regular duties; which seem to resume on you sitting on your ass all day long while doing nothing."

"Ha, I learnt my work ethic from my former Mayor."

Arching an eyebrow, Regina took off her coat and hung it by the door, "If I was still mayor, you wouldn't be sitting in that chair."

"If you were still Mayor I would have hanged myself from the ceiling a long time ago."

"Or I would have done it myself." She said simply, her lips curving into a sly grin as Emma burst out a laugh. But then, before she could say anything more Robin's voice was heard all around and she just had to move her head towards the source of his voice.

"Well what's all this fighting for?"

Licking her lips, Regina blinked slowly. Robin was walking to her and by the smile on his face, he was quite pleased to see her there.

"And we are just starting; you should really see us getting psycho crazy on each other." Emma said wriggling her eyebrows.

Snorting, Robin got closer and closer and once standing in front of her, he kissed her on the lips. Now, that right there wasn't one of the mind blowing kisses she knew he could give, but for some reason it made her feel weak on the knees as her face blushed.

It was stupid, she knew that; but her reaction was probably due to the fact that Emma was right there looking and that made her feel more than a little awkward.

Pulling away from the gentle kiss, Robin immediately lowered his face towards her stomach and smiled brightly. "And how's my girl doing?" He asked, placing both hands over her belly and feeling around.

"The baby is doing great, getting bigger and bigger." She said, her breathing stopping for a second when he looked up into her eyes.

"I'll be out in a few minutes, do you mind waiting?"

"No, it's okay."

Pursing his lips, he nodded and then turned around to disappear into the next room.

"What. Was. That?" Emma asked in inexplicable wonder and Regina shrugged.

"What was what?" The soon mother to be asked even though she knew exactly what she was being asked.

"Come on, don't play dumb with me; you know I'm talking about that kiss."

"Oh that peck, well that was nothing."

"Right; anyway, since when are you two in a kissing-pecking zone and why didn't I know about it?" After asking that, the younger blonde tilted her head to the side and gasped as if being enlightened. "Wait, you are sleeping together, aren't you?"

Opening her eyes as wide as she could, Regina looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Why don't you announce it in the next city meeting, gosh."

Taking in a breath a bit dramatically, Emma pressed a hand to her chest and closed her eyes. "I knew it, I knew this was going to happen. I need details and I need them now."

Blinking a few times and snorting, Regina shook her head no. "I'm not going to give you details, you pervert. Besides it was nothing, it just happened one time and I'm not even sure if it meant something."

"What? Come on Regina, of course it had to mean something. Whenever two people who love each other sleep together, it means a lot."

"It's not as easy as that. Robin and I, well you know we are just friends and that's it, there's no more to it."

"Do you love him?"

Puffing out a breath, Regina frowned. "Of course I do, he's my best friend." And not only that, he was the father of her baby so of course she felt for him.

"Okay, let me ask it this way. Are you in love with him?"

Sucking in a breath, Regina looked up to the ceiling and shrugged. She shouldn't be saying this and least of all to Emma… but still… "I don't… know, okay." She admitted out loud. "Not that it matters, because to Robin I'm just a friend."

"Yeah, and that's why he is sleeping with you, because you are such a good friend. Tsk. Look, Robin doesn't seem like the kind of man who sleeps around just because he cans so I assure you, if he slept with you is because he feels something deeper than a friendship for you and by the way he looks at you I can assure you that this is the case."

"I'm not so sure about that."

Snorting, Emma got up to her feet and headed to the next room as well; but before disappearing, she turned to Regina and shrugged. "I have to differ on that one; but if you are still not sure, then maybe it's time you go to him and find out."

With that said, Emma smiled brightly and left, leaving Regina alone so that she could do nothing but to think on what she said.

After that, a few minutes that felt like hours passed by and Regina just stood there, thinking. In a way, she knew the other woman was that right and that she needed to find out what was going on between her and Robin, but at the same time she was afraid to do so.

What if she faced reality only to figure out that she was indeed in love with him? Or what was worse, what if she realized it only to have him tell her that he didn't want anything with her.

That would be awful as she didn't knew how to deal with rejection and well, the bond they had now was for their whole life and how could she get over an unrequited love when she was going to interact with him on regular basis?

Blowing out a breath and running her manicured fingers through her hair, she turned around and started to make her way out. The best she could do for the time being was ignoring the whole thing and let whatever was going to happen to happen.

Resigned to that, she waited a bit more and when Robin finally came out, she forced a smile to grace her lips.

"Sorry about the wait, I tried to be as quick as possible."

"It's okay."

"How about if we head out to eat something, I'm starving."

"Sure." Anything to delay the inevitable talk.

Agreeing on that, the former Outlaw turned into temporary deputy leaned into her space and kissed her for a second time that day. Only that this time he went straight to the point and grabbing her chin and pulling it down with his thumb, he created a gap so his tongue could slide into her mouth.

Regina let him do it, hell, she even returned the kiss as her hand came to rest at the back of his neck. But as soon as the kiss started, it ended when Robin pulled away.

"Shall we go then?"

Not trusting her voice to speak out loud, Regina nodded, biting her lips and blinking a couple of times.

She just didn't know what to say, all she could think and wonder about was that how come things got so complicated; everything that she was feeling and thinking made a mess out of her brain and as a thousand questions started to invade her mind, one of those questions stood out above all others; why was she feeling like she was falling head over heels for him? Why…?

Anyhow, as they headed to the dinner and then ordered their food and even ate it, that question remained in her mind and well… it may sound weird to some and she would understand why; but the thing was that Regina only came to realize that she was feeling like that because she actually loved her best friend the moment he caught her staring at him.

Sure, she could argue against the world about how she already knew that she loved him, but the thing was that she now understood that not only was she feeling as if she was falling for him, but that she was already in love with him.

Realizing this came as a shock to her, after all she couldn't even recall when or how she came to feel that way. The only thing she could think off was that it felt as if a veil had fallen off her eyes and she was now able to see what has been right in front of her eyes, an unrequited love that was probably going to be her downfall.

So yes, it came as a big surprise, especially since she hadn't even noticed that she has been staring so when it downed on her, it hit her like a blow to the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs and paralyzing her under the intense gaze of his blue eyes.

"What?" Robin asked, a weak version of one of his enticing smiles curving the corner of his lips.

Knowing that she has been caught and feeling like a cornered deer, Regina blinked her eyes a couple of times and voiced the only sound that she could find in her vocabulary. "Uh?"

Once that was said, she felt dumb and terrified that he could read the truth out of her eyes so she tried to look away, but at the same time she was unable to and feeling her cheeks burning as a heat started to creep from her chest and up towards her face, she just blinked once again.

"You are staring." The former bandit replied simply, the smile still on his face as he focused his attention only on her.

To save face, her first instinct was to deny, deny and deny or who knew, maybe to get up on her feet and flee the scene; but knowing Robin like she knew him, that would only raise his suspicious and he would dig until tearing her newfound truth.

That was unless she told him afterwards that she needed to go to the bathroom and thus her little act of running away all the way to her house.

Shaking her head at her juvenile way of dealing with the situation at hand, Regina closed her eyes for a second to gather herself. Once she was somehow alright, she snorted while bringing her hand up to her hair. "I'm sorry; I just spaced out for a minute."

"So you spaced out staring at my face. That's new." He said in amusement, taking a sip of his water and his eyes still delving deep into hers.

Taking in a deep breath and finally looking around at the small crowd around them to make sure no one was paying attention to them, she shrugged.

"I wasn't staring. I just got caught up thinking about a couple of things and your face happened to be on the way." She said with a forced smile while moving her eyes back to his.

"Right."

Arching an eyebrow, Regina rested her head against her hand, trying to act as normal as possible and not as if she was trying to place a date and time on the moment she started to have deep feelings for him.

Did it happen during that first night they slept together? Was it after? Has she been unknowingly in love with him all along and thus the reason she choose him to be the father of her baby?

Or better yet, was she really in love with him or was it her pregnancy hormones playing tricks on her mind?

Not finding an answer to all her questions and still a bit surprised by her discovery, the soon to be mother decided to keep her feelings undercover because one, she was kind of living a denial phase and second, because even if she was indeed in love with him, chances that he reciprocated were very dim.

Yeah, maybe he liked her like Emma said, but liking her enough to have sex with her didn't necessarily meant that he was in love with her and she didn't want to end up getting burned.

Shaking herself back to the moment, she cleared her throat and decided that thinking about all that in that moment wasn't going to resolve anything. "You look tired." She commented as casually as she could.

Pursing his lips, he leaned back against his chair and snorted. "So do you."

"Really? Well maybe that's because I am, sleeping is the only thing I want to do as of late."

Tilting his head and looking at the watch on his wrist, Robin pursed his lips and blew a breath out of his mouth. "Well it is kind of late so we'll go now, I also want to be home before Little John drops off Roland."

Opening her mouth to say that she didn't mean to say that she wanted to go and that they could stay a while longer, Regina watched as Robin got to his feet. Apparently, he has made the decision to leave because he was calling the waiter for the bill.

Now, it wasn't that she was bummed to cut the night early because she has never been known as a social butterfly, but in that particular night, she wanted to stay because she realized that safety was in numbers.

What was going to happen once she was all alone with him? She knew that she didn't want to blurt out feelings she still didn't understand and especially not to him.

That was without saying that she now knew that she was doomed to fall in his arms if he had the desire for it and that was the last thing that she needed, to end up as his bed. Not that she was expecting that to happen, not after she has gotten so big that it would be impossible to wake any kind of desire out of him.

But what if he did want it? She would definitely give him reign to do whatever he wanted and that would only make matters worse for her.

Right in that moment, she could deal with her feelings as long as their friendship remained just that, a friendship; but if they kept playing the sleeping together game, she would definitely fall prey to those feelings and when the time came for him to move on, she wouldn't be able to act as if nothing happened.

Meaning, she had to cut off with Robin the lover and stick to the friend.

Feeling a sense of dread fall on her, she followed him outside and into the car he was now driving and together they left. The car ride was for the most part silent, her mind was too occupied with different scenarios of what could go wrong from now on and the more she thought about it, the worse she was feeling.

Once they arrived to their final destination, which happened to be his apartment, Regina knew what she had to do and she did it as soon as Robin closed the door.

"We shouldn't keep doing this sleeping together thing." There, she said it while feeling her face turning a deep red.

On his part, Robin's brows furrowed a little and he blinked a couple of times. "Alright. That was kind of unexpected."

"I mean, I'm not saying that you wanted to do it now but you know, I just… well we shouldn't do it… ever again."

Nodding and pushing with his tongue the corner of his lip, Robin folded his arms over his chest and rested his back to the door. For the first time ever he looked out of words and Regina felt like she needed to fill the void his silence had left all through the room.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?"

Snorting and lifting a hand so that he could run his fingers over his jaw, he sighed. "And what can I possibly say about this?"

"I don't know, maybe you can tell me what are you thinking."

Taking in a deep breath, the tattooed man just shrugged. "Well I'm not thinking about anything in particular; only that I wasn't expecting you to say that out of the blue but what can I say; I'm not going to force you into anything and I'm not going to make this moment more awkward by asking you why."

Biting her bottom lip, Regina lowered her head so that her eyes were looking at her protruding belly. That was it; she cut off the sleeping together thing and what was better, she did it without him asking her question… meaning that having sex with her hadn't been as important to him as it has been for her.

For him it was probably something that happened and nothing more.

"Good," Clearing her throat, she looked up to an undefined point in the wall behind him and flashed a pathetic smile. "I guess I better go then."

"You don't have to go, I didn't bring you here to get you in my bed so you can stay. You know, I'm not going to touch you if that is what bothers you."

Recognizing his tone as one of annoyance, the dark eyed looked at him to notice that his face was long and somber. It was as if he was angry.

"You are mad."

Shaking his head and walking to her, the so called prince of thieves grabbed her face and kissed her forehead. The kiss was short-lived and as soon as it was over he let go of her and turned around. "I'm not mad, I'm just… surprised that you came all the way here just to tell me that." Shaking his head, he snorted. "But anyhow, you can stay here if you want to; I'm going to take check if Little John arrived."

Watching him opening the door to leave, Regina closed her eyes and spoke without thinking. "Robin, please don't be mad. You know I care about you a lot, you are… your friendship means the world to me and I don't want to see it ruined because of this."

Turning back so that he could look at her, the blue eyed man shook his head and blew out a breath. "I'm not mad at you, I'm really not. I just don't get it, I thought everything was fine."

"And it was fine." Instead of leaving it there where it should have ended, she kept talking. "But I don't want to end up being your better than nothing."

With his eyes delving into hers and his head lifting up, Robin pursed his lips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means, doing this thing we were doing was fine to you when it was happening; but what when you find someone else and decide that it was better to stick up as nothing more than friends? You know that when the moment comes you will push me aside, then I wouldn't be able to handle it well and we will end at odds. That's not the way I want to raise my child."

"So, in other words you are implying that I've been using you all this time until something better comes." He said and it was not a question. "Do you really think that I acceded to father your child just because I wanted an easy lay whenever I felt the need? Is that what you really thought I was doing?" Snorting and shaking his head, Robin's eyes shone in anger. "You don't really get it don't but you, but you know what, just forget it."

Turning back around so that he could finally open the door, he walked out of the room and this time, Regina could assure that he was mad… and what was worse, she was now sure that for the first time since their friendship began, she was at odds with her best friend, the father of her child and the man she came to love without realizing it.


	10. Chapter 10

Six days ago, when Regina turned off her phone and walked out of Robin's apartment to head back to the safe sanctuary of her own house, she has been a hundred percent sure that putting some distance between her and the bandit would prove to be the best cure for her feelings to him.

True, she has been well aware that creating said distance was going to be hard with him being the father of her unborn baby; but if she could manage to at least cut any unnecessary communication with him until the baby was born, then chances of her crawling out of the infatuation phase she has succumbed into were going to increase.

That line of thought came into her mind almost a week ago… and throughout those days she has evaded seeing and even talking to the man as if he was the black plague incarnated.

At first she her attempt to cut all ties were simple, she turned off her phone and locked herself in her chambers, but because it was impossible to maintain the device off for all eternity, she turned it back on the next morning to find that he had texted her a few times during the night.

The first message has been simple enough, a 'where are you?' that came about twenty minutes after the two of them had left the premises of his home; the second and third ones were almost on the same line, Robin asking her to please call him to know if she was alright and then the fourth and last one came at four in the morning of the next day; that one read like this; 'Fine, I get it. Won't bother you anymore.'

It has been that last text the one that hit her the most and because of those simple words she had spent the whole day in full weepy mode, wondering if she was doing the right thing by running away from her feelings instead of facing them… instead of facing him.

That was just the first day, then came the second and third ones and those were a bit better but not by much, as she would find herself laying in bed, staring at her phone and fighting the urge to call him. By day five things hadn't changed and now it was this, day six and she couldn't take it anymore.

So yes, it took her a total of six days to understand that staying away wasn't going to do anything for her and that forced her to come to the conclusion that she needed to put her pride and feelings aside so that she could salvage one of the things she appreciated most in the world, him and his friendship.

Now, to do that, the first thing she needed to do was apologize. Apologize for overreacting, for running away… for letting her feelings fog her judgment and for being the possible executor of their friendship.

True, saying how genuinely sorry she was might not be enough, but she saw it as the first step to mend things with him, a way to make things go back to the way they were before.

It was sure going to be a rocky road for her because of her feelings for him and of course, the way their relationship had turned into, but she was willing to put that aside just to have him in her life once again.

Coming to that conclusion hadn't been a tough decision even though she was proud to a fault, after all she was really sorry that things ended the way they did and she was sure that a sincere apology would flow out of her mouth just by taking a look at him.

That was the reason she was there, lifting her hand to knock on the door that has been mocking her with the simplicity of its wooden frame for the past ten minutes or so and fully aware that she should expect a lot of things out of that visit.

In fact, she should expect the unexpected and she knew it, after all, their last encounter hadn't ended up so well so she was bracing herself for anything. In her mind a lot of possible scenarios could play out, from one where he would open the door, see her standing there and silently close the door on her face to one where he would get angry at seeing her standing there and so he would start bombarding her with a repertoire of cutting words that would probably kill her inside…

Or maybe none of those and instead he could simply smile and let her pass as if nothing out of the ordinary happened between them.

Maybe something entirely different could happen… she hadn't been exactly sure, but if there was something she hadn't been expecting, was for someone else to open the door of his apartment, especially not 'this' someone…

"Regina." The woman said with a pronounced frown in her face as her hand wrapped around the knob of Robin's door and at the sight of her, Regina couldn't lie, she was at a loss of words.

Opening her mouth and closing it again, the dark haired just placed a hand protectively over her pregnant stomach and then smiled, the smile feeling forced and fake. But it was only then that she was able to find her voice.

"Belle." She said, an empty sense of being proud over the fact that her voice didn't falter washing through her.

But God, it was taking all the power of her being not to turn around and leave at the sight of the woman standing there, smiling at her as if it was the most natural thing in the world for the two of them to run into each other at his door.

Sure, she knew that both Robin and Belle had a very amicable friendship that apparently started back in the Enchanted Forest when Belle saved the bandit from being killed by the Dark One… but she wasn't aware that said friendship consisted on them meeting at his place in the middle of the night.

"Wow, you know, this was something I had to see to believe." As the woman standing inside of Robin's apartment said that, her eyes lowered down to Regina's stomach and then she chuckled. "So, a little Robin on the way, uh?"

"Seems so." Nodding and keeping her eyes on the younger woman's eyes, Regina replied coldly, her hand staying in place. At least Belle knew about the baby being Robin's, what she wondered was how much did she know... and she also wondered if Gold was aware of these late night visits.

True, rumor had it that Belle and Gold's relationship had taken a turn for the worse after she found out he lied to her about something important so…

Biting down a bigger smile, Belle opened the door wider as if to let her walk in. "Come on in, Robin's taking a shower and Roland just got to bed; I'll let him know you are here."

Blinking her eyes a couple of times, Regina forced another smile upon her lips, one that made the muscles of her face ache. "No. I don't want to interrupt anything. I was…" Lifting her hand up to her hair, she blew out a breath, not really knowing what to say.

It was just an awkward moment and she just wanted to flee the scene as soon as she could.

"Oh no, no, don't you worry, we were just-"

"No," Lifting a hand to the air as if to make Belle stop talking, Regina's face became a stoic mask. "I just came to give him this." Swallowing down, she reached into her purse with slightly trembling hands and took out a small envelope to hand it to her. "I just thought he would like to see it. Anyway, I'll just go."

With that said, she turned on her heels and closing her eyes in shame, she started to walk toward the elevator.

"You are so stupid." She mumbled to herself as she stabbed angrily the small button on the panel that would make the elevator come to Robin's floor.

How come she didn't see this coming? Robin and Belle?

This was exactly why she has been trying to push her feelings for him away, because deep inside she knew that someday, somehow, he was going to realize that there were a lot of women worthy of him out there and he would obviously want to take his chance with someone who didn't have such a dark past as her.

And Belle… the woman was everything that she was not and well, her and Robin did have some common ground. They knew how it was to be with the rotten likes of her and Rumple and…

Shaking her head and trying to clear her mind from such thoughts, Regina took a deep breath and tried to act as calm as she could. At least not everything went bad, at least she was able to somehow save face by bringing the latest sonogram of the baby to give him. Yes, it could seem weird that she came all the way to just to give him that, but whatever.

"Come on." She hissed, feeling almost desperate to board the elevator. She didn't want an encounter with Robin, not in that moment that she was feeling out of her element.

Ah, not that an encounter was necessarily going to happen; she didn't know what was the deal between Belle and Robin, but who was to say that the woman would tell him that she came by?

For all she knew she was not the only friend Robin liked to stumble in bed with and who knew, maybe Belle didn't want to cut their encounter short by having the tall man going after her.

At that thought, Regina felt her heart grow heavy in her chest. Six days… a lot could happen in six days… were Robin and Belle something that was born during those last few days or has it always been there? Or maybe she was just overreacting.

Maybe she was panicking because seriously, after all they have gone through; she didn't think Belle would leave Rumple out of the blue.

True, she would take Robin any day over Gold… but then again that was just her.

Blinking her eyes closed and scratching her head almost compulsively, the soon to be mother heard the elevator stop and open its doors in front of her. At the sound, she opened her eyes to step inside, but when she turned around to press the button to go down to the lobby, she saw Robin holding the doors open so he could go in as well.

Clenching her jaw and feeling all the blood of her body drain down to her feet, Regina stared straight into the blue orbs that were his eyes and remained mute. He wasn't saying anything either and as much as she tried to, she couldn't even manage to flash his way a smile.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked at last when the doors of the elevator closed behind his back.

At the question, Regina blinked slowly, taking notice that just as Belle told her, Robin has been taking a shower. She knew because his hair was still wet and plastered to his head and because the shirt he picked up to put on was damp as well, almost as if he put it on before getting to dry off.

There was also the fresh scent of soap and shampoo clinging to him and well, he was also barefoot; thing that he didn't seem to notice or mind.

Clearing her throat and hoping that her heart would stop beating so hard and fast against her chest, Regina tilted her head up.

"Robin."

At her words, the man lifted his hand and showed her the sonogram pictures. His eyes were questioning, digging into hers harshly.

"That was from my last check up, thought you may want to see them."

"So you can come all the way here to drop this by but you can't pick up your phone to call. You are unbelievable, Regina."

Picking up the small trace of anger in his voice, the former Queen closed her eyes and blew out a breath while trying to focus on what was important, and that was conserving his friendship. "I didn't come here to argue- I actually came to apologize about the other night."

There, that was a start; might as well be done with it now that she was there.

Humming, Robin pushed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. "Apologize? Apologize to whom? To my door? Oh, maybe it was to Little John downstairs and that's why you are on your way down." He said sarcastically, his eyes piercing her in place and his accent sounding more pronounced than ever.

But choosing to ignore his obvious rotten mood, Regina chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head. "Actually I came to apologize to you; I just thought that I better leave it for another time since you are obviously busy tonight."

Snorting without amusement, Robin ran his fingers through his hair and turned around as if to leave; but because they were still trapped inside the elevator, he stopped on his tracks and threw his head back.

Regina just watched him, a big part of her wanting to reach for him and touch him. But she didn't, of course… there were some habits that were hard to kick out and keeping things inside of her was her way of life. She couldn't help it, there was always a struggle of mind and heart, a battle that always prevented her from letting her emotions run free and that day wasn't the exception.

Oh but how she wanted to break free of such a burden. If only she wouldn't be so afraid of it.

Closing her hands into fist, she breathed in. Baby steps… she could start with those. "I'm really sorry that things turned out so bad between us. I- what I told you that night is true; I care a lot about you and I would hate for us to drift apart because of some stupid argument."

"Funny. I mean you say that you don't want us to drift apart but it was you the one that ran away and it was you the one that decided to ignore all my calls and messages."

Pursing her lips, Regina decided to reply with a calmed and even tone. "I didn't run away; you left me there by myself and under the circumstances, I thought it was best for me to leave as well."

"Oh don't you give me that, Regina." Robin blurted out while turning to her and at his tone she flinched in surprise; but then as if realizing the tone he was using, he took in a deep breath and lowered his voice. "I told you to stay in the room until I came back but you still ran off. And not only that, but you also started to ignore my calls and only now, almost a week gone by, you decide to show your face! For heaven's sake, Regina, if it wasn't because Emma told me you were fine, I would have thought that something happened to you."

Lowering her eyes and her jaw clenching once again, Regina nodded. "You are right; that's why I came here to apologize; I should have talked to you sooner. I… I also want to apologize for the things I said. I didn't mean to imply that you used me or anything like that."

At her words, Robin blinked slowly. He didn't say anything thought and deep inside she resented him for it. Why couldn't he say something, anything?

That was one of the things that confused her the most, he never said anything.

"So, I'm really sorry… I appreciate your friendship very much and I don't want it to end; especially now that the baby is coming soon and well, you know-" Biting hard on her lips and locking eyes with him, she finished up.

On his part, the Outlaw quirked his lips and shrugged almost indifferently. Ah, but there was a glint in his eyes that told her that he was acting out of anything but indifference. "It's alright, no hard feelings."

Smiling a faint smile because at least she could have his friendship if not his love, Regina extended her hand towards him; offering it as a sign of peace. "So, friends?"

With his eyes glued to hers, Robin took her hand in his. He didn't shake it though as it has been her intention, he just held it in his and flashed her way a crooked smile.

"Yes, friends."

"Good," Regina said as a deep sense of relief mixed up with a lot of sadness because in that moment, she understood that her feelings for him were not going to change as easily as she thought.

No, she wasn't an expert when it came to love but she just knew that it wasn't the way things worked. She knew it as well as she knew that even though being her friend would give her some sort of solace, in the long run she didn't know if she could bear it; having him so close and yet so far… hanging on every word he said… it was going to be rather sad on her part.

Well, more than sad it was going to be pathetic but that was the way unrequited love worked. It did not die, it would only lie beaten down in a secret place where it would hide, curled and wounded.

"I guess I better leave so you can… go on with your night."

Thinking back on the woman waiting at his apartment, Regina's eyes casted down a shadow but the smile never faded off. If she wanted them to remain friends, then she couldn't allow herself to get jealous of his other 'lady friends'.

"You don't have to go, I mean it."

"No; I don't want to ruin your plans or anything. I came, I apologize, I did so I'm out." She said, trying to smile as genuinely as she could.

"Alright then;" Robin said, still holding her hand while staring directly into her eyes. "I guess it will be some other day."

"Sure, I'm going to go now."

Nodding, Robin pulled at her hand to bring her close to him. She went willingly and automatically rested her face against his chest as soon as his arms came to circle her.

Closing her eyes and breathing into her lungs the alluring scent of him, Regina sighed. God, how was she going to do this? Just by feeling the solid frame of his chest pressing against her as his hand settled on her back as he engulfed her in his embrace was making her feel slightly emotional, so how was she going to do it?

Closing her eyes and feeling her heart hammering against her chest, she tilted her head to the side and pressed her forehead to his shoulder.

So yes, the next couple of weeks were going to be hard, feeling so much for him and holding back. But hopefully, when the baby came, all her focus would be on him or her and thus, little by little she would be able to get over him.

"You know I love you, right?" Robin said, pulling apart and moving his hands to cup her face and thus making her look up.

That way, with her eyes on his and her heart on the back of her throat, she smiled.

"I know," And she did, she knew he loved her in his own kind of way. It was a love based on friendship and not the kind of love she unknowingly craved, but still, it was love and it was the first time he ever told her and well… it melted her heart a little bit.

"I love you too; I wouldn't have asked you to be a part of this if I didn't." And there…she said it even though he would not understand the depths of those words. And would he ever know that in the last three decades, she has only said those words to her son?

"I know," He whispered before leaning forward to kiss her cheek. His lips lingered there for the longest of times and Regina closed her moistened eyes to keep them from leaking. Once that was done, he flashed a smile her way as his thumb came to caress her cheek. Then he turned around, pressed a button so the doors would open and stepped out.

For a while Regina just remained there, watching him walk to his door.

Yes… a rough couple of weeks they were going to be, but it was what it was and there was nothing she could do about it.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina had no idea that it could be so hard to love someone you would constantly see and talk to and keep quiet about it. Sure, she knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but still… she thought that it was going to be a hell of whole of a lot easier.

At least at first, in the week after she went to him to apologize, things had been somehow easy; but thinking about it rationally, she only saw it that way because one, she was just glad to have him back in her life and two, because even though they had settled their disagreements, things between them where still kind of awkward and they weren't exactly back in the best friend's zone again.

Sure, they talked over the phone in a few occasions and Robin took back the habit of texting her whenever he learnt or discovered something that he found interesting almost immediately, but even though, things were not exactly the way they used to be.

It was the following week when things started to change for her; after dropping Roland at school, Robin texted her that he was going to pass by to check on her and he did; the knock on her door came ten minutes after eight in the morning and they had the most awkward encounter at her door.

He said that he just came by to see how she was doing and that was it, he never made it pass the door and she never invited him in. More than awkward it was horrible and when he finally started to turn around to leave, she tried to put all feelings aside in hopes to get her friend back and told him that if he wanted, he could come back after his shift was over.

He took in the offer and sometime before evening, he came back to her with Roland.

What happened was nothing out of the ordinary, he brought some movies, she cooked them dinner and with Roland chatting nonstop, they spent the night trying to get back to what they had, which was a friendship and nothing more. They ate, they watched a grand total of two movies and when Roland dozed off, they talked about everything but what was going on between them.

Regina had tried to play it cool, but it was during that night that she realized that things were not going to be as easy as she first thought… to have him so near and yet so far away.

It was quite sad even for her and even if she tried not to, when he wasn't looking her eyes would find him to get lost in every detail of his movements, her hands were just itching to reach forward and touch him and she just couldn't stop wondering about him and Belle.

All that happened a week ago, and apparently, she still couldn't get over the fact that she felt more than just and amicable love for him and that night when he and Roland came by once again, she found herself stuck within the same circle.

She felt just like that damn Queen in the movie Roland couldn't stop watching, trying to conceal it and not feel it…

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the way her mind was drifting once again, Regina allowed the spoon she was using to eat some ice cream to fall inside the bowl.

Her feelings for Robin should be the last thing in her mind in that moment and what she should be thinking about was her baby and nothing more.

Sure, even though the baby wasn't due for another couple of months, thinking about what was to come made her nervous as she has never been in her life so that was the reason she didn't want to put much thought to it; but she also knew that things were going to turn out fine because very soon she was going to have her baby with her and that was all that she needed in life.

Who would have time to think about men when there was going to be a little one taking over her heart anyway? A little one that for all she knew, could be the spitting image of Robin.

Eyes the color of the ocean at sunset, dimples that would take anyone's breath away and that smile she was so drawn to…

Groaning at how her mind would always drift towards _him_, Regina lowered her head until her forehead was touching the granite of her counter and then she closed her eyes.

"Having a rough time."

Hearing the words and feeling his hand touching her shoulder, Regina's muscles tensed and for a second, her breathing halted.

It was stupid and she knew it, but it just that touching was something they just stopped doing as of late and chaste as it was, she couldn't help but feel all her senses in overdrive.

"No. I was just thinking about the baby and my due date. It's getting near and I was, you know, thinking and hoping in won't have to be a C-section." She lied easily, her face still lowered into the counter and her lips twitching in amazement at how quick she was able to come up with that.

"Oh okay." He said and after the words were said, he moved his hand away from her. "You know… with every passing day I always come to the conclusion that this is a strange realm indeed; one where babies are put into their mother's womb by a doctor and then taken out in a so called operating room."

"Medicine is quite an advance, you know."

"I know; I mean I've read about it all but it's just… bizarre."

Rolling her eyes with just imagining _who_ let him read about it all, Regina tried to act composed. "So let me get it straight, you accept magic but no medicine?" As she asked that, she lifted her head to find that Robin was now sitting in the stool at her side while eating her ice cream. "That's interesting."

"And who says I accept magic?"

Humming, Regina's lips curved involuntarily. In her infatuation with him she has forgotten how easy they could spend hours talking about trivial things like that and she took the opportunity to recuperate that. "You have a magic bow and you don't accept magic?"

Arching an eyebrow, the father of her unborn child took a spoonful into his mouth and hummed. "Anyhow, I'm not saying that I don't accept magic or even medicine, just that I don't understand most of the appeal they have. But what can I say, I'm a simple man who thrives in the simplicity of things."

"And yet… you have a magic bow." Snorting and pursing her lips, Regina shook her head. She did it while meeting the sparkling blue of his ever-changing eyes briefly, but then she looked down to the ice cream bowl.

"What's with you and my bow, woman?" His voice, a raspy whisper made her look back at him. "Because trust me, I can aim and hit my target without it being magic."

Shrugging and keeping her eyes on his, she smiled. "If you say so."

Pinching his upper lip with the edge of his teeth, Robin smiled back at her. "I'll show you one day and you'll see how I'm right. As I'm going to show you how some things are better enjoyed by simply letting them be."

Humming and nodding, Regina clenched her teeth. "Did Belle let you read about that too?" Ah, there… she just couldn't help it. She just hoped it didn't come out as spiteful as she felt it in her tongue.

"Belle?"

"Yes, Belle, cute little librarian you use as a 'nanny' at any given time."

Pressing a thumb to his lips, Robin narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "Well Belle has taught me many a thing of this realm, but that one I learnt on my own. I can show you too if you want."

"No, I pass." She said haughtily and with a roll of her eyes.

After that, neither of them said anything and Regina was starting to think that sooner rather than later, Robin was going to say that it was too late and that then he was going to leave with a sleeping Roland in his arms.

It was going to happen… she could feel it.

"So," Robin began, breaking the silence. "With you being such an advocate for both magic and medicine, would you rather have this C-section thing?"

Wrinkling her nose and unable not to noticed how he went back to the subject instead of announcing his departure, Regina moved her eyes back to his and smiled faintly.

"I don't think so. I mean I want to give birth naturally; you know, the usual, break my water while grocery shopping, make you come running from the opposite part of town, having awful contractions, going through fifteen hours of labor…being overcome with lots and lots of pain." Shrugging and completely aware that she was rambling, Regina breathed out, this time unable to tear her eyes from him.

Allowing a soft laugh to escape off his lips, Robin put the spoon down and tilted his head to the right. "You say it like that and now I wonder how is that better than a scheduled C-section?"

"I don't know," She answered while lowering her eyes once again. "But just the idea of going under the knife makes me anxious."

With that said, she took the spoon and started playing with the already melting ice-cream.

"Ah," Robin said amusedly and Regina had the impression that he moved a little closer. "So the mighty and feisty Queen does have a weak point, a scalpel."

Snorting, Regina looked up. "Don't be ridiculous. That's not my weak point."

No, as she was starting to find out, her weak point was him. It has been like that even before she realized she was in love with him and it was only now that she saw it.

Take that moment as an example, just having him sitting there and looking at her with such intensity was enough to make her feel her insides turn into goo so yeah… she could say that he was her weakness.

"No? Then what is your weakness?" He asked, the amusement in his voice turning into something else entirely different.

"Ha, as if I would ever tell you." She responded before her tongue began to push insistently against her upper teeth.

Snorting and leaning a bit closer, Robin rested his right elbow over the counter. "Come on, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

With her lips curving into what appeared to be a smile, Regina shook her head. "No way."

"So are you going to make me find out on my own?" Robin asked, taking the spoon out of her hand and putting it over the counter. Once he did that, he made her stool turn to the side so that she would be facing him.

Furrowing her brows, the brown eyed beauty opened her mouth and then shut it back for a second. She didn't exactly know what was happening, but for some reason all her senses were on the edge. "Okay, what are we exactly talking about here?"

Instead of answering her question, what Robin did was close the short distance that separated them so he could press his lips to hers.

He did it softly, without pushing it and Regina just froze in the act.

Then, before she could register what was really happening clearly in her brain, Robin pulled slightly apart, just enough so that he could look into her eyes. He didn't say anything and neither did she, so after a few seconds that seemed to have dragged into eternity where they did nothing but stare into each other's eyes, he leaned into her once again and kissed her.

Closing her eyes as her hand automatically lifted to curl to the back of his neck, Regina added a bit more pressure into the kiss and taking it as his cue, his tongue ran softly against her lips.

It was something that they had done before, kiss, but that night Regina felt it like never before and wanting to feel more of it, she parted her lips for him.

As she silently requested it, Robin deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding in and touching hers while both his hands came to cradle her face.

That was when she remembered herself so pulling her face back as if his lips were burning hers, she ran her fingers through her hair. "Robin, you know we shouldn't-"

"Yes, I know. My apologies." He rasped out and if she saw it right, he rolled his eyes while saying so.

Now, she didn't know why he did that, but for some reason, she had the impression that he was mad. Not that he had a reason to, because if someone should be mad there, it was her. But the thing was she wasn't, that kiss only made her feel a weird sense of sadness wash over her and all that she wanted to do in that moment was go to bed.

"You know what, I take that back; I'm not sorry that I kissed you." He took a moment to consider his words and then he shook his head. "No, if there's something I'm really sorry about, is that I let you drag me along in this 'let's play friends' thing when you know there's more to us than that."

Staring at him, Regina blinked a couple of times and remained mute. What was he saying…?

While she tried to process what he meant, Robin got to his feet and looked down on her. "I've been trying to give you enough time and space so you can figure out what is it that you really want, but you are so stubborn that you would rather choke with something you feel before spitting it out; well that or you plain and simple don't want what I want. I want everything, Regina, I want everything with you."

Listening to his words without blinking, Regina felt as if she was about to panic. Her lungs started to close in and her limbs all of a sudden felt too heavy for her to bear. Sure, for weeks now she has been mopping about unrequited love, but now that he was there, possibly letting her know that he wanted the same thing that she wanted, her first instinct was to flee...

To disappear in a purple haze never to come back.

Maybe she would have done it if it wasn't because every fiber of her being was paralyzed. It was all so unexpected.

"So there, now you know where I really stand so what follows will be up to you. If you don't feel the same way and would rather remain friends, I'll take that, but I just needed to let you know that at this point, being just friends is not what I want."

"I…" Shaking her head as if in denial, she closed her eyes. "I don't understand."

"Then I shall simplify it. I love you, I've always have and not in the way you imagine." Blinking a few times and then shrugging, he went on. "And I'm sorry if this bothers you but I can't keep it down any longer, I thought… when you asked me to do this with you, I thought I could handle it but apparently I can't; I'm only human Regina and you can't expect me to turn a blind eye to what I feel after I got to have you… so why don't you think about what _you_ feel and when you are ready we'll talk it out."

With that said, he turned around and walked to her living room. Once there, he sat in her sofa, turned on the TV and crossed his arms to his chest as if he didn't just drop such a bomb.

Regina watched him through eyes big as plates as her heart beat ridiculously fast against her chest. Was this it? Was everything she ever wanted in that man sitting there, waiting for her to make the decision?

It just… she didn't know what to think or what to do! That he would feel even half the way she felt for him was something she had wished more than anything and now that the possibility was there, she was lost.

The decision was hers and she didn't know what to do. What if she ruined it all? What if at the end of it all he realized that she wasn't good enough for him and what if she couldn't love him the way he deserved? What if it was safest to remain friends?

Taking in a deep breath and trying to calm down, Regina swallowed on dry and tried to organize her mind. As terrifying as it all seemed, there was only way to find out about all those questions and it wasn't running away or evading the subject; no, to find out she would have to face her fears and jump into it without looking back because wasn't it that what it was all about?

Blowing a shaky breath out of her mouth, she got to her feet and took one step and then two steps towards him. Then she kept walking as if she was in a trance and it wasn't until she was in front of him that she stopped. Once he saw her there, he got to his feet as well and stared at her expectantly.

Looking into his eyes, she parted her lips to speak, but the thing was that somehow, the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them.

Robin wasn't helping either, he was just standing there, his eyes delving into her terrified ones as he waited.

Sucking in a breath and still not finding how to let the words out, she did the only thing that got into her mind, which was grabbing the edges of his jacket and pull him against her so that her mouth could meet with his.

Now, with her pregnant belly she couldn't bring him as close as she would have wanted and her emotions where so raw that she just managed to plant an open mouthed kiss that he probably felt as sloppy and hurried; but trying to fix it, she made the kiss go deeper, seeking his tongue with hers and in a matter of nothing coaxing him into kissing her back.

With an iron clasp grip on his jacket, she felt his fingers bury in her hair and she tilted her head to the side, her head spinning with the intensity of her feelings.

For a while their lips remained glued, their kiss needy and deep and talking the things she didn't dare say. At last, when she broke apart, Robin just smiled cheekily. "Can I have the translation of that into words?"

"What about Belle?"

Frowning, he blinked. "What about her?"

"Aren't you two…?"

It apparently took him a minute to realize what she was asking and snorting in amusement, he pecked her lips. "Are you jealous of Belle?"

Guffawing, Regina shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous, I just thought that-" Closing her eyes and resting her head to his chest, she groaned. "I don't do jealous but let's face it, Belle is not as damaged as I am and Robin, you don't deserve damaged."

Grabbing her head and making her look at him, Robin smiled. "Don't be silly, to start things, you are not damaged, and second, Belle is just… well, she's just Belle. She's a dear friend and nothing more and that night you found her home, she was just taking care of Roland while I finished my shift."

"I was just your dear friend too."

"You were always more than that. Now can I please have my answer?"

Unable to help it, Regina kissed him softly, but when she was about to say it, she felt a cramp on her stomach that made her groan and double over.

"Oh my God," She breathed out as her hand came to settle on her stomach. It was hard as stones and blinking rapidly as she felt it around, she tried to remember what the doctor told her, that having contractions didn't necessarily mean that she was going into labor…

It could be nothing, it was probably was nothing so she tried to straighten up. But before she could do it, Robin had one of his hands pressing against her back while the other one covered her own hand, the one she had on her stomach. "What is it?"

"Nothing it was just…" She started to say when a new cramp made her cut her sentence short. This one lasted longer than the previous one and Regina was sure that she felt as if her entire midsection was about to rip apart; the sensation was too painful and it left her breathless.

Now through it all, Robin held her steady while asking her if she was alright, but as the pain started to subside, she felt something soaking her underwear and running down her leg.

"No, no, no, no." She chanted in dismay because it was too soon. She was still seven months along so it was just too soon.

The baby wasn't ready… she wasn't ready… and, and…

"Regina, hey… look at me."

Looking up and having a passing thought about her baby having the worse timing ever, she closed her eyes and through clenched teeth, she felt another contraction. "I think I want to go to the hospital now."


	12. Chapter 12

"No, no… please." Mumbling the words under a shaky breath and feeling as if her heart just dropped all the way to her feet, Regina closed her eyes while pressing a shaky hand over her belly. "Not this… please not this."

Unknown to herself, she kept chanting the word no over and over again and as she felt around, she couldn't help but to notice that even though she wasn't having any kind of contractions in that moment, her stomach felt hard as stones.

That right there made her worry skyrocket and she tried to remember the things she has read about the whole thing.

Not that she could concentrate enough because as it happened, everything was adding up to her nerves and she didn't know how she was still standing while her legs felt as if they were made out of rubber.

"Regina, is everything alright?"

Swallowing hard down, she heard the words coming through the other side of her bathroom door but she didn't respond to them, she just opened her eyes and tried to react as quickly as she could under the circumstances. Yes, she tried to think and act fast, but she was all of a sudden feeling lightheaded and apparently that was making her movements as well as her thinking process slow down by a lot.

"I'm going in."

As she clumsily kicked her underwear off, put on clean ones and then fixed her dress in place, the door to her bathroom opened; she heard it all happen but almost as if she was too shocked to react accordingly, she just lifted her head up to watch him enter.

"My water didn't, break… I thought it did but…" She could feel her eyes wide and wild staring at him and when he took in the image in front of him, his eyes also widened and she could definitely see worry in his blue stare.

"Regina…. you are bleeding." His voice was low and raspy, his accent coming off as thick as she has ever heard it.

Blinking rapidly so that she could keep to herself the tears that wanted to break free, she bit down the impulse of spitting a snarky remark about him stating the obvious and she just nodded. Yes, she was bleeding and judging everything by the mess she has made of her underwear and the traces of it running down her thighs, she was bleeding a lot.

Parting her lips as if she was about to talk but instead puffing out another shaky breath, she stared at him because she just didn't know what else to do. She didn't know how to react and she didn't know how to proceed.

Her mind was too much of a mess to process it all and all she could think of was that apparently, what she thought to be her water breaking was instead blood pouring out of her. It was all too much to take in, but if there was something she could deduct about it all was that blood wasn't good, not at all.

Running a hand through his hair and walking closer to her, Robin cleared his throat. "Alright; I'll… let's get you to the hospital now."

"Okay." Regina nodded and her eyes automatically went to stare at her bloody panties laying on the floor; that little article of clothing was the reason why she came into the bathroom in the first place, to change them and clean up as she didn't want to go to the hospital all soaked; but apparently, she would have to go as she was because she didn't want to waste more time than the one she already wasted.

It was alright when she thought the liquid that came off of her was her water breaking, but now that she knew that it wasn't that, she didn't want to risk losing any more time whatsoever.

But, as if the bleeding wasn't enough, when she was about to put her feet into motion to leave at last, a new contraction rattled her whole existence and with a strangled gasp, she had to hold hard onto the vanity top as the pain of it subsided and then passed.

Once the contraction was gone, she ended up feeling dizzy and with her limbs feeling too heavy for her; if it wasn't for Robin steading her, she was sure she would have ended up fainting and more worried than ever and she started to fear for her baby even more than before.

Now, everything that happened after that happened in a blur and she was only half aware of the way Robin helped her get into the car to drive off to the hospital and later on, she had no clear recollection about Roland being in the car as well or of Little John meeting them there to take Robin's little boy with him.

All she could remember was that the contractions were coming more often and longer every time and that her back was killing her.

But even though the pain was starting to border in intolerable, Regina couldn't focus on anything else than what it could all mean to her baby. Whatever was happening, it couldn't be good because one, bleeding wasn't normal and two, because it was still too early for her to deliver.

But at the same time that she was overcome with both pain and worry, in her mind everything was just happening so fast that her brain hadn't been able to clearly register what was happening. At least until they made it to the hospital and they told them what was happening.

It was then, as she was laying on a hospital bed, a belt rounding her stomach and a bunch of cables connecting said belt to some monitors that she finally understood what was going on.

"You had a placental abruption so we need to deliver this baby right away. Now, opting for a natural delivery is a huge risk but waiting to prepare you for an emergency C-section is an even higher one."

Closing her eyes and feeling the tears she has been trying to hold escape her, she clenched her teeth hard and as the contractions would come and go, she grabbed a handful of her hair and shook her head no.

"A placental abruption… what is that?"

Clearing his throat, the doctor sighed and addressed the question Robin just asked. "That's when the placenta tears from the uterus and… well, depending on the severity of it and the distress it causes both the mother and the baby, it can be very dangerous. Now, in Regina's case, the tear provoked her to go into labor and since she's dilated enough as it is, our best chance is to deliver now."

"But she's going to be alright, isn't she?"

"She is losing too much blood and she is what we call clinically in distress so the sooner we deliver, the better. Now, the baby is just thirty-one weeks along so there might be some complications and we will have to use an incubator as soon as the delivery is done."

Clutching her hands hard around the railing of the hospital bed, Regina groaned in pain. True, what the doctor just said sounded awful but by then the pain was too much and for the moment she couldn't do anything but to try and bear it as best as she could.

But yes, she was indeed distressed, both physically and mentally. Her breathing was labored and ragged, her jaw was tensing so hard that it hurt and her skin was moist with a thin layer of transpiration. And then there was this need in her to push and push until everything would pass.

Swallowing hard and groaning once again, she felt as someone ventured to use a hand to brush a strand hair out of her face and when she opened her eyes to see who it was, she saw Robin.

He looked worried and the smile on his face looked more than a bit forced. "Hey,"

Blinking rapidly, she tried to reciprocate the smile but all she could manage was to grimace in pain as a contraction ran through her. But as she rode the pain, he leaned forward and kissed her lips briefly.

"Everything is going to be alright, don't you worry about anything."

"It's too soon… Robin, it's too soon for the baby to be born."

Still using his hand to soothe her by running it through her hair, Robin leaned even more into her and kissing her a second time he pressed his forehead to hers. "It's for the best, our baby is going to be alright… you'll see."

Shaking her head, Regina sucked in a breath and closed her eyes in distress. "No… it's too soon." Then, a second after her words were out a beeping sound started to come out of one of the machines and Robin's eyes moved to it.

The sound was accompanied by Regina crying out in discomfort and Robin couldn't do anything but to clench his teeth and watch her suffer her pain alone.

"Your contractions are coming closer now, that's a good indication." The doctor said while approaching Regina. Once the pain was done, he suspiciously placed himself right between her legs to check on her.

Regina could feel him doing only God knew what down there, but under the circumstances, she didn't even care.

"Earlier on we injected Oxytocin on your IV to accelerate dilatation and that's why the contractions are getting longer and with less time apart. It's working as it should, you are seven centimeters already so why don't' we start with this already?"

As if in cue, a blinding pain that felt as if her midsection was ripping apart took over her and she blindly fumbled for Robin's hand; once she found it she almost strangled it, clutching at it with all the strength she still had in her.

"It's going to be okay…" Robin whispered, using his other hand to caress her cheek.

"Alright Regina, this monitor right here will let you know when you will have a contraction so as soon as you hear it, I need you to take a deep breath and then, when I count to three, I need you to push with your lower body, can you do that?" That has been a nurse and closing her eyes without letting go of Robin's hand, she nodded.

That's how they did it and Regina couldn't even remember for how long and how many times she did it, all she knew was that apparently, the efforts of pushing a baby through a seven centimeter opening wasn't easy or pain-free.

But that's how she spend a good amount of time, with Robin mumbling a few encouraging words into her ear while she kept pushing and pushing until the doctor said he could see the baby's head and that he needed one big push for it to be over.

"Just one big one, come on." A nurse said and even though she was exhausted, she did as she was told.

So she pushed, she pushed hard and feeling a low pressure in her pelvis that was pretty close to being unbearable, she groaned in discomfort. It all proved to be in vain because when she finished pushing, the baby was still inside. "I can't…" She said as she let her head to drop against the mattress.

"Of course you can." Robin said and his voice made her open her eyes so that she could look at him. He was still by her side, grabbing her hand and soothing her with the other.

"One more push."

Swallowing down, she pushed again, hard. This time it felt as if her body was turning inside out and with a burning sensation that rattled her whole, she felt it slip out of her. It was hard to describe it, but once her baby was out, the pain was replaced with a sense of numbness and she collapsed in a heap against the hospital bed.

"Is the baby alright?" She asked while feeling her eyes get blurry, then after asking that she waited in silence for her ears to detect even if it was the faintest cry coming from where the baby was; but she didn't, she didn't hear anything at all.

"Robin, is the baby ok?" She asked, holding her breath and watching as the nurses took a very small baby that could only be her own. Then, before she could take a good look at him or her, they took it away in a rush.

She followed them with her eyes as a huge sense of dread started to consume her inside out, and while she felt as if her world was crumbling all around her she saw Robin getting to his feet, asking them the same questions she wanted to know.

They said something to him but she couldn't listen and feeling too scared to know, she hid her face behind her hands and she cried in silence.

She did that for what felt an eternity, but then she felt him, Robin, taking her hands in his to move them away so he could assume the same position he took when he came in, the one where he was resting his forehead to hers.

"They didn't even let me see my baby." She sobbed and for a third time he kissed her full on the lips.

"They are making sure everything is fine…"

Sucking in a breath, she blinked several times. "Is the baby alive?" Now, it took all the effort she had in her to say those words without choking on them because she didn't know what was going on. For all she knew the baby died and only to think about it forced her to swallow hard as she felt her eyes watering once more.

Using his thumb to wipe off her tears, Robin nodded. "Yes, our baby is alive and it's a girl. She needs to be taken cared off though because she had trouble breathing on her own but they say chances are that she's going to be fine…"

Feeling as if a huge weight was lifted off her shoulder, Regina couldn't hold it any longer and she began to cry.

It was stupid and she knew it but she couldn't help it. She was crying in joy, she was crying because she wasn't able to see the baby but she was also crying because her daughter was alive and that was a huge relief.

"I told you it was going to be alright, didn't I?" He said softly and despite her tears and the mess, she grabbed his face and kissed his mouth.

Pulling apart, he searched her eyes with his and then, he buried his hand into her hair and kissed again. It was a soft peck that was cut short when the nurse told them she needed to take care of the after match of the delivery.

"You know, I somehow knew that you were going to either run or evade the subject if I ever approached it. But having a 'placental abruption?' just so you wouldn't have to face it? Tsk."

It took Regina a moment to realize what he was talking about him confessing his feelings, but when she opened her mouth to reply, he slid his hands to her face and grabbing her firm, he kissed her again.

"We'll talk about it later; for now just rest."

Nodding, she did as she was told and as the nurse took care of what was left, she started to think on her baby and the future that awaited them all and as she did it, a smile formed on her lips.


	13. Chapter 13

"I can't believe you had a baby girl, Robin. That's amazing... I mean you always said it was going to be a girl so I'm really, really happy for you. And she is so cute and small and her hair, that's definitely your hair!"

"I know, the poor child, right?" The former outlaw answered with a laugh while taking his phone out of the pocket of his jacket. "Check this one out." He said and without thinking it twice, the woman sitting by his side leaned even closer to him so that she could take a better look into his phone's screen.

Whatever it was that he showed her, the woman laughed and got even closer. "Look at that, she's like a mini-you! Let's just hope he doesn't inherit your stubbornness." Belle said amusedly and as response, Robin looked at her and snorted.

"Hey, I resent that."

Regina watched the exchange from her place at the bed, her lips slightly pouted as a weird sensation that closely resembled bitterness started to wash through her. She wouldn't know how to explain it, but it was as if her mood was drastically drooping by the minute and she was doing everything in her power not to let her spirits go even more downhill.

It was hard though, because every single person that has entered her room only seemed to talk about her baby and how cute and precious she was and all she could think while listening to those words was that they were trying to indirectly cheer her up.

She didn't like it… no, in her mind their words sounded like a cheap ways to pick up her mood and instead of doing that, they were souring her spirits.

It was a strange feeling, what she was experiencing, but as much as they talked and smiled, all she could muse about was of her baby weighting barely four pounds, of her daughter all alone in an incubator with innumerable wires sticking to her small torso and with oxygen going through her nose so that she could survive.

Sure, the doctors assured her that the baby was going to be fine and it was all a matter of the girl gaining more weight and getting her lungs stronger, but even with the good prognostic, a dull sense of devastation was menacing to drag down.

It was all more than a little upsetting and well, her hormones were still a mess and adding that to the fact that she was on a ten days watch in case she suffered a postpartum hemorrhage and she was in all her right to feel so emotionally beat down about it all.

Ah, but as if all that wasn't enough, now it was this! To add even more salt to her wound, after having to endure the visits of the Charming clan and Robin's Merry Men, Belle was now there and she was getting kind of cozy with Robin.

It was as if everything was conspiring against her mood and she was letting it get to her. It was just… terrible.

As for Belle being in her hospital room with them? She still didn't know how to feel about that. Watching them talk and joke together made her wonder about them as it was more than obvious that the two of them were too comfortable with each other; so with that fact present, it was inevitable that her mind would wander…

But at the same time she trusted Robin more than anyone and she was sure that he wouldn't have said the things he said to her a couple of nights back if it wasn't because he meant them. True, the father of her baby could have many faults, but he would never try to play her for a fool. Or would he?

Taking in a deep breath, the dark haired blinked slowly and tried to get more comfortably on the bed.

Moving was a bit uncomfortable, one because of the IV and second because her entire midsection felt too sore; but what could she do other than suck it up?

"Are you alright?" Robin asked and Regina couldn't help but to force out a smile and nod.

"Yes." Arching an eyebrow and trying to keep the answer simple, Regina looked at the duo and the fake smile grew even more.

Now, as she said that, the two of them were looking back at her and she couldn't help but to have the distinct feeling that she was interrupting something. It was all it took for her and instead of keeping it simple as she knew she should, she blinked slowly and spoke.

"So don't let me interrupt your little chit-chat."

Sighing and apparently oblivious to her cutting tone, Belle rested her chin over her open palms and smiled. Robin on the other hand just ran a hand through his hair and let out a small snort.

"Your baby is beautiful, Regina."

"Thanks," She said, this time the smile on her face turning into a genuine gesture.

"Anyway, I think I better get going. It's getting late and you probably want to rest." Before anyone could reply to that, Belle got to her feet and stretched a little. "I can use a little rest too; life has been chaotic as of late."

"Yeah well let me walk you to the elevator." Robin said, getting up as well.

Regina nodded, and when Belle said her goodbyes she responded just blinked and when she was gone, she rolled her eyes before blowing out a breath in relief.

"Alone at least."

Maybe that was what she needed, a very much moment alone so that she could gather herself. She could also use another bath because well, the after match of a partum with a severe hemorrhage were not so nice to deal with.

With that in mind, she sat up and fighting a wave of dizziness, she closed her eyes and waited for it to pass. Once it got better, she dragged her feet along the mattress and then she let them down to the floor.

"And what do you think you are doing?"

Without opening her eyes, Regina blew out a breath. "I want to go to the bathroom, I need a shower." And she really did, she didn't want to get into many details with him but she needed to clean herself.

Robin snorted; she could listen to him doing it. "And you couldn't wait for me or a nurse to come here and help you?"

"No." Opening one eye to look at him, Regina shook her head. She has always been a bit jealous of her privacy so to her, taking a shower to clean up was something she would rather do by herself.

Thinking about that, she opened her eyes and looked up to see that Robin was just standing right there in front of her, his expression one she couldn't quite read. Now, this was the first time in the two days after she gave birth that they were left on their own; it was also their first moment alone after having a conversation were he confessed to have some kind of feelings towards her and that made her feel a bit awkward; especially since he made it clear that he wanted to discuss the nature of their relationship.

So with that in mind, how should she act now?

"Do you need any help?"

Regina closed her eye and shook her head no, but still, she reached forward and held his arm. "Just… don't pull at me, okay? I am a bit dizzy." After saying that, she sucked in a breath and slowly started to get up.

Robin just remained there as support, not moving and not saying a thing.

"Thanks." Blinking her eyes open, she mumbled once she was firmly on her feet and Robin placed a hand to her lower back and kissed her temple. Now yes, the gesture was comforting but she could only focus on holding onto him until this new episode of dizziness would pass.

"I'm never going through this again."

"You mean getting up from that bed or the whole pregnancy and giving birth thing?" His voice was low and soothing while his hand on her back caressed her lightly.

"I don't know, all of them?" She whispered, the feeling subsiding now that she was unmoving.

"Ah, and here I was planning on baby number two. Are you sure you don't want a baby boy?"

Despite everything, Regina smiled and looked up into his face. His eyes were sparkling in amusement and his lips were slightly curved into a smile, thing that made her know that he wasn't being serious. Or at least she hoped so. "No way, once in a life time is enough for me. Thanks for the offer though."

Robin quirked his lips and arched an eyebrow. "But I'm good at this making babies thing, Gina. Look at what I did in just once try."

Biting lightly on her lips and trying not to think too much on the way he called her Gina instead of Regina, she hummed. It was inutile not to think about it though, she just loved it when he called her like that because well, nobody but him and Roland on occasion called her like that and it felt nice.

"One try? I remember more than one try."

"Of course you do, I mean you did fool me into believing one wasn't enough and you pushed for a second one, but considering the dates and all that, I'm pretty sure I got the good shot on first try. Not that I'm complaining for that second night though."

Opening her mouth and then closing it, Regina felt her face flushing and she swallowed on dry because he was basically right because apparently, when they went for that second try, she was already pregnant but wasn't aware of it.

"Well first of all, I didn't push you, second it was an honest mistake… and third, sure, you did it all in one try because you are such a stud. Never mind that I was taking hormones and taking care of my body to conceive. Tsk."

Now, were they kind of flirting? She wasn't sure, but if it was she should stop it…

"Oh that's what they call it now, honest mistakes? Alright… so… didn't you want to go to the bathroom?"

"I do, but I don't want to walk ever again." She confessed in a beat down tone that didn't sound like her like at all while pressing her face into his chest. But it was just that thinking about walking seemed like such an effort that she couldn't help it.

Running his hand up from her back and into her hair, Robin breathed into her scent, holding her into his embrace as her hands came up to rest against his hips.

It felt good to be like that with him but she still felt like something was missing. "Do you really thing the baby will be alright?" She said out loud for the first time while blinking and chewing on her lips.

"Of course she will. Before we know it, we'll be able to get her home."

"Can't wait." She breathed out against him.

"Come on, let's get you into that shower."

Pulling away from him slightly, Regina shook her head. "No, I can do it on my own."

"No way. You know what the nurse told you, you are still at risk of suffering an hemorrhage and I won't have you bleeding to death in there just because you are too stubborn. I'll help you."

At his words, her eyes widened and she would have snorted if it wasn't because doing so seemed to be so out of place. "No I don't think so." And she meant it. She was bleeding and her body was a mess so no… even if it was just to help her, she wasn't going to allow him to see her like that.

"I won't risk it so I either go with you or you don't go at all."

Rolling her eyes, Regina pursed her lips. "Robin, don't be…"

"Shhh," Closing the distance that was keeping them apart and kissing her lips briefly, he cut her words off. "And this is the end of the discussion."

Running the tip of her tongue over her lips, Regina cleared her throat. Why was it that her mind was starting to get compromised with a mere brush of his lips to hers? She just gave birth a premature baby that was in an incubator, she was in a whole deal of discomfort so why was her heart and soul falling victim of her feelings towards him?

No, she needed to focus. "Oh really, and I'm supposed to do as you say just because?"

"Well-" He started to say, but then he looked up to the ceiling and smiled. "Not just because," Looking back into her eyes, he continued. "You'll just end up doing it because you love me and you don't want to see me worrying about you." After that, he kissed her lips again, this time adding a bit more of pressure. "Right?"

Once he pulled away, Regina opened her mouth, but before a word could escape her lips, she clasped it back shut and shook her head. "That's not fair."

He just couldn't use her feelings against her like that!

"What? I mean, you do love me, right? And please, no more evading the subject."

Swallowing hard down and feeling more tired than ever, Regina looked up into his curious blue eyes. "I do, but that doesn't mean that I want to get naked in front of you while being like this. Robin… I'm leaking everywhere, I'm… a mess and-"

"So you love me as in I love you, my friend or as in Robin, I'm madly and irrevocably in love with you?"

Blinking a couple of times, Regina swallowed on dry. The two of them were just standing in the middle of the hospital room, she was feeling more than a bit nasty and in uncomfortable so the whole thing was just… awkward. "Are we seriously doing this right now? I thought this was all about me taking a shower."

"Which one is it? I'm making it easy for you so is it one, or is it two?" Refusing to tear his eyes away from hers, he pressed on.

Regina considered her next words with care, but before she could say them, he went on.

"I already told you how I feel and what I want, so it's only fair that you do the same."

"I know and I…" She shrugged, the words feelings as if they were stuck in her throat.

"You what?"

Rolling her eyes, Regina sighed and decided to let it all out as fast as she could. "I love you as in I'm in love with you. And I do want everything with you… but I'm… I'm afraid, Robin… I don't want to get my hopes up and then have you realized this is not what you want. What if it's too much and too soon for you and then you just bail out. I don't want to lose you so if that means keeping this as just friends, then I'll have just that."

At her response, Robin blew out a breath and threw his arms to his sides. "And why do you think I would bail out? Is that the kind of thrust you have in me? Wow."

"No." She hurried to say while reaching for his arm to stop him from walking away. Sure the sudden movement of doing that made her hiss as she got a bit dizzy but she let that one pass. "Of course I trust you; it's not about that… I just, I guess I'm just afraid."

Taking a step closer, the father of her child lifted a hand to her face and pressed it to her cheek. "I know what I want and I know how I feel. You know it too so like I said a few nights ago. The ball is in your court so what are you going to do with it?

Regina bit on the inside of her cheek, her eyes caught up in the intensity of his stare. This was the moment, she could take a risk and do what her heart wanted or she could play it safe by running away from what she really wanted.

The choice was easy, so taking in a deep breath she forced out a smile and let him know about her decision.

"I want to be with you-"

"But?" He blurted out, his expression serious.

"No buts; I just want us, you, me, Roland, Henry and baby Sophia to be a family in all sense of the word." Once that was said, she held her breath and waited for him to reply.

"Alright." He said, sucking his lips into his mouth and nodding slowly. "Well, if you insist, I'll take both you and the baby; and Henry of course. But just because you are begging me."

Tilting her head to the side and keeping her eyes on him, Regina blinked a couple of times and parted her lips slightly, her mouth both ready and unable to reply to that. Yes, she knew he was messing with her, and perhaps that was why she wasn't sure about how to reply.

Besides, she felt a little lost; her mind was unable to take in the fact that she actually told him that she loved him so it was all kind of surreal; oh but her heart… her heart understood it alright and it was beating so hard that the sound of it was ringing in her ears. She really told him that she loved him… and he wasn't bailing.

"Now do I get to be kissed properly or what?"

Pushing the inside of her cheek with her tongue; Regina shrugged. "I don't think I'll be able to kiss you properly while being like this." She said, trying to keep up with his playful tone even though she was feeling like kissing him senseless never to let go. "And it will be weird…"

"Weird? Home come?" He asked, his lips curving slightly and his eyes piercing her in place.

"I don't know, I'm a mess and well, let's face it, now that I know your feelings and you know mine, the thrill of it all is going to fade… maybe I liked it better before." She said with a wink, letting him know that she wasn't being serious.

"Oh are you kidding me? I'll like it even more than before and I'm pretty sure you'll like it too. Way too much I will say."

Humming, she felt a flush take over her face. That was probably what he wanted to achieve and thanks to her fair skin, he managed it.

Smiling, Robin settled his hand on her hips. "Just kiss me. Come on, you know you want to."

Doing as he said, Regina rolled her eyes and when he leaned closer into her, she pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft and tender and Robin didn't push it. Their lips just meet in a soft caress while she breathed into the moment.

Pulling away, Robin dragged his hand into her hair and looked at her face intently. "I love you; now, that doesn't mean that I will let you off the hook with the shower thing."

Regina pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "Robin… just shut up and kiss me."


	14. Chapter 14

"I don't understand you two."

Arching an eyebrow and refusing to tear her eyes apart from the image she has been contemplating for the past minute or so, Regina shrugged while she got mentally prepared for one of Emma Swans questionings.

"I mean, are you still in denial or did you finally took your head out of your ass and admitted that you do feel something more than a friendship for Robin?"

Quirking her lips, Regina tilted her head slightly to the side and once she had Emma within her vantage point, she shrugged. "I'll answer that question as soon as I see how it concerns you."

Snorting, Emma rolled her eyes and Regina took the opportunity to turn her head back to the small crowd sitting in her living room, but her eyes focused only on Robin holding little Sophia in his arms as she apparently slept soundlessly.

"What, aren't they together?"

That was Snow now talking and doing her best to ignore both mother and daughter, Regina blew out a deep breath. She still couldn't understand how she let Robin open the door to the whole Charming family, and because of that she had now the whole lot invading the sanctuary of her house. Snow and Emma in her kitchen, Charming and Neal in the living room and there was even Hook, sitting between Henry and Wendy and by the look on her son's face, being teased along with his girlfriend.

Part of her wanted to recoil at the invasion, but somehow someway, she liked the vibe of her once empty house being full of people who didn't want to see her head where her feet were.

"Doesn't concern you either." She said at last, but her voice didn't come out as dripping venom as she has wanted it to sound.

"Why not, aren't we family?" Emma said and turning to her mother, she kept talking. "Check this out. Regina swears that she and Robin are just friends and that they made Sophia in an emotionally detached manner and just with the purpose of procreating. Can you believe that? Apparently, she is oblivious of her own feelings."

Jerking her head to them and opening her mouth as her eyes settled on Emma, Regina gasped. "And apparently, you are oblivious to the fact that my relationship with Robin doesn't concern you. It doesn't concern her either so I'll appreciate if…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Snow snickered and leant forward into the counter, resting her elbows over the granite surface and shaking her head. "Yeah, right, I would believe that if it wasn't because of the way you two look at each other."

"Exactly. He looks at her like a love-sick puppy and she looks at him as if she was love stricken."

"Well I was going to say that he looks at her as if wanted to rip off her clothes right in the spot and she looks at him as if she can't wait for him do to that."

At those words, Emma laughed out loud and Regina just bared her teeth. "You are such a pervert." And really, she would have expected that of Emma, but of Snow?

Laughing innocently, Snow shrugged and blinked sweetly. "Well I know all about that, I've seen those looks pass between you two since you had the baby and I recognized them because it's how my husband and I used to look at each other after Neal."

"Oh my God, mom? Don't you know this is labeled in the too much information category. Eww." With that said and shaking her head, Emma got to her feet and made it to the living room. Once there she looked at her father and making a grimace, she decided to sit by Henry's side.

"What? It's true. After Neal was born we waited the mandatory six weeks and it felt like such a long wait. It makes for a lot of tension… and frustration, as you must know."

Making a grimace of her own, Regina swirled on the stool and faced the other woman. "Your daughter is right, that is too much information."

But even when she wouldn't be caught talking about it and least of all with Snow, deep inside she had to admit that the woman was kind of right.

More than a couple of weeks had passed since Sophia was born and since they both confessed their true feelings, but even though, nothing that went further than a lot of kissing and a few furtive touches had happened between her and Robin and yes, the result was tension and lots of it.

But their reasons may be different than those of Snow and Charming; at least for her because with Sophia being born way before her time, she has been in the NICU for twenty-nine days and during all that time, Regina has focused on her daughter and only that.

It went like this, most of her days were spent in the hospital. The first week has been the worse as she has been devastated at having to leave her baby there, but as time passed and as Sophia started to breathe on her own and gain weight, the easier everything started to be.

Not that it meant much to the progress of their intimacy, because even though Robin tried to be with her whenever he could, he never put any kind of pressure on her. That he liked to kiss her a lot? Yes, and she liked it when they kissed, but she never gave him any indication that she wanted something more and he never pushed it. On her part it was all because first, she was too worried for her baby, but also because so recently being pregnant, she didn't felt physically comfortable with the thought of having sex.

But now… now that Sophia was finally home and that both Robin and Roland had spent the last two days in her house, things started to change. Last night has been the farther they had gone; after Sophia and Roland fell asleep they had gone down to relax from the hectic day of their daughter's first few days out of the hospital and somehow, someway, they ended up kissing, she half sitting and half laying against the armrest of her sofa and Robin hovering over her.

But then Sophia woke up crying and the moment was cut short.

"Maybe it is too much information but having being there not so long ago and having talked it through with David, I'm the only one who can assure you this; you may feel out of your skin and all that, I mean you just had a baby and your body is adjusting back to normal, but with the way he looks at you, trust me, he doesn't care about the little extra weight or the leaking of your breast, he just wants a little loving."

"Ugh."

"And you don't have much extra weight anyway, you look great. Did you stop bleeding?"

Clenching her teeth, Regina answered "Yes…" But it feel awkward talking body fluids so snorting and closing her eyes, Regina wondered why this was happening to her. "Are we really having this conversation?"

"Then you are lucky, I didn't stop for a lot longer. Your only concern should be finding the time and energy because trust me, being sleep deprived isn't good for your sex life."

Before Regina could even think on something to reply such a statement from her former rival, a very much needed save was made.

"Well she's out, better put her up at her crib." Robin said, saving Regina for an even more awkward conversation so changing her attention to him, she forced out a smile as he got up from the sofa.

"Let's see how long it last now."

"Come on, little princess, let's go and say goodnight to Mamma," Walking to her, Robin lowered the baby to Regina and unable to help it, Regina's lips curved into a smile.

"Goodnight, Sophia." Kissing her forehead, Regina watched her daughter sleep in her father's arms and her heart swelled. She just looked so peaceful and so different from the small baby that could barely breathe on her own while she was in the hospital that it made her tear up a bit.

It was just surreal to have her finally home with her, healthy and getting stronger.

"I'll be right back." Robin said and after kissing her lips briefly, he turned around and went upstairs.

"Well Emma was right, he does look at you as a love-sick puppy, but I was right too. But don't worry, I know what the two of you need." With that said, Snow got to his feet and winked at her former stepmother. "Hey guys, who's up for pizza, ice-cream and then a walk around town. Let's leave the new parents rest for a while, uh?"

"Oh me, me, me. I want to go, can I go Mama?" Roland jumped up to his feet as soon as he heard the word ice-cream and in a matter of nothing he was in front of her, jumping up and down.

"Hey calm down," Regina snorted as the boy jumped to her lap. Kissing her forehead, Regina hummed. "As for going, that's something you should ask your father."

"Please, please, tell him to let me go. Pleeease!"

"I can look out for him." Wendy said and Roland beamed. "Please, momma."

"Maybe he can even spend the night with us, Neal loves him and you both need the… rest." Snow said and Regina could see what she was doing so clear that she had no choice than closing her eyes and resting her head into her hand.

"Yes! I'll ask Papa." And with that, the boy jumped and ran upstairs.

Regina remained like that for a while, and it wasn't until she heard Roland running downstairs that she opened her eyes again. He was closely followed by Robin and judging by the backpack he was carrying, she assumed that the boy was going to spend the night out.

Soon after that, everyone started to leave and after saying their goodbyes and kissing both Roland and Henry goodnight, Regina and Robin where left standing by her door, watching everyone leave.

"Why did I let you open the door to them? Tell me because I forgot again."

"Because Henry was with them and you would open the door to him anytime? Also because Roland was making too much noise when he realized they were out here and because they came to meet Sophia and it would have been rude not to let them in."

Blowing out a deep breath, she bit on her lips. "I don't mind being rude, especially to them."

Humming, Robin kissed her shoulder. "Oh come on, you have to admit that it wasn't so bad."

"I will never admit such a thing, especially when it comes to the Charming Idiots."

"Will you ever stop being so stubborn and admit that you actually like them?" His words, even a bit harsh were said in such a mellow tone that Regina had to smile; she did it while throwing her head back so it could rest against him.

"Never. Well I like little Neal and that's as much as you'll get out of me."

"I wouldn't bet on in, one day I'll get you to admit it. But as for now come in, you should take the chance and to lay down and rest a bit."

Shrugging and letting him guide her back inside the house as he closed the door, Regina sighed. "No, I'll go and finish Sophia's bedroom; I can't have her sleeping in my room forever and now that she's finally here I should try and finish everything."

And true, between her mind being too worried to preoccupy about the baby's nursery and then having Robin make her promise that she wasn't going to use magic to do it, she hadn't done much with the room. Now Sophia was finally there and she hadn't even painted or armed the crib. If It wasn't because Robin's Merry Man had carved a small crib that Regina decided to put in her own bedchambers, Sophia wouldn't even have a place to sleep.

"Then I'll help you."

With that said, the two of them went upstairs and began to work. Robin going straight into the unfinished nursery as Regina went to look for a the paint she had stored in a spare bedroom down the corridor.

When she finally had everything she needed, she walked out and headed towards the nursery and once by the door, she couldn't help but to smile. "Robin, you said this wasn't going to be too much trouble so why are you taking so long?" She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Once inside she put the paint she has been carrying in her arms down on the floor and placing her hands on her hips she took a look towards the man's direction.

On his part, as soon as he listened to her voice manifest in that sultry tone that seemed to characterize her whenever she talked to him, Robin stopped what he was doing for a second and glanced back at her. "Because I'm doing it right. Or what, do you want me to do it in two minutes so it would crumble down as soon as you put Sophia on it?"

"Hmm, I would have done it better and faster." She said tapping the tip of her forefinger to her lips and shrugging dramatically.

At that Robin smiled, arching an eyebrow and then snorting. "Better and faster without magic? I don't think so, this right here is work for real men and not for a snobby Queen."

Regina blinked a couple of times and then she flipped at her hair. "Snobby? Are you calling me snobby?"

Getting up to his feet and leaving the still unfinished crib on the floor, Robin stretched his limbs and turned around to face her. "Yes, I called you snobby. Something you want to do about it?"

Snorting and with her eyes fixed on his sparkling blue ones, Regina smirked knowingly at him. "You wish I would do something to you, Robin of Locksley." She said that before sending a wink his way and moving forward to take the roller so she could go on with the painting process. "Anyway, there is a box by my bed, bring it here. I want to be done with this today."

"So, not only is she snobby but bossy too, and to think this is my day off."

"I can do it myself, you know."

"Yeah, I bet you do…" He rolled his eyes playfully and walked out of the room, leaving the woman occupied with painting the walls of the baby's room.

Once out, Regina looked over her shoulder and watching him go, she thought about what Snow told her. Yes, she has seen the look on Robin's eyes and just the previous night, when they ended up kissing and all over each other, she has even felt the undeniable proof that he wanted her.

It wasn't a surprise though, after all it was normal for two people who loved each other to have those kinds of needs and desires and well… they were only human so it was normal.

With that in mind, she couldn't also see what the big deal was, it wasn't as if the hadn't done it before so what changed?

Feelings… that was what changed. Because now both their feelings were laid out on the table and sex would have another meaning. There would be no holding back and at least on her part, that kind of terrified her. Love terrified her and in some way, motherhood terrified her too.

She messed it up with Henry for such a long time so who was to say that she wasn't going to do it with Sophia as well.

"Here it is." Making her startle a little, Robin put the box down and before he could notice her distraction, Regina took a deep sigh and started to prepare everything to start painting. Once that was done, she pressed the roller against the wall to start the whole process, but instead of keeping it up she put it down and she ended looking up to stare at the wall intently.

"What is it?"

Instead of answering, Regina shifted her weight onto her right leg and then started chewing on her lower lip while her eyes fixed on the wall…

"You don't like it." He stated rather that asked.

As soon as he said that, Regina broke out of her trance and looked him. "I don't know… doesn't it looked dull?"

Robin looked at it for a moment before turning his eyes to her. The paint was a pale pink, the kind little girls loved… or so she thought, but now that she looked at it, she wasn't sure if she liked it.

"I think it's pretty, not too scandalous and not too subtle, just perfect."

Trying not to let her dark thoughts invade her mind, Regina shrugged, her eyes back to the wall. "She'll hate it… maybe she'll hate me too."

At that statement, Robin chuckled, walked to her and joined her in her stare off. "Regina… Sophia is barely two and a half months old… I don't think she'll take notice on what kind of pink her walls are painted in and without any doubt, she won't hate you."

"But she could end up hating me in the long run."

"Regina… you are overdramatic and I think you spend too much time thinking about little things that have no sense. There is no way Sophia will end up hating you… and this, this is a nice color." He reached for the paint can and put a finger in it, soaking it with fresh paint, he then traced a pink line with his painted finger all across her cheek. "See, it even looks good on you."

Realizing what he did, Regina opened her mouth in shock and for a moment just stared at him, then she finally reacted. "Robin!" She protested with a gasp as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, then she rubbed her painted hand against his arm, painting him as well. "What do you think you're doing?"

Robin didn't mind what she said and he went back into collecting more paint with his finger so he could wipe it on her other cheek. "Ah, pretty in pink, this is definitely your color."

Regina's eyes were huge sparkling pools in her face. She wasn't pissed off, but she was definitely surprised. He probably knew it because with a smile on his face, he ventured to continue his pink path down to her neck, then he retreated and winked at her.

"Alright." She snorted and without tearing her eyes from him, she dunked her hand in the paint and smeared it on his cheeks and forehead. "There you go, they say that real man wear pink."

Apparently liking this new turn of events, Robin saw Regina's rare playful mood as a green light to keep on, but when he was about to collect more paint to splash it on her, the mother of his child dunked her hand in the paint before him and painted him some more. That triggered a playful fight were their faces, arms and great part of their clothes ended up covered in pink.

At one point as they goofed around, Regina used magic to make the whole can of paint float in the air and right over his head and she hoped that the smile on her face would let him know of her intention of pouring it over him at any given time. "Take one step closer and you'll be sorry."

"Wait, wait…" He breathed out, reaching up to grab the can so that she wouldn't throw him the paint. "You wouldn't want to spoil this nice floor, would you?" He tried to reason with her, and it seemed to work because she looked down to the floor… apparently forgetting it was covered in plastic so it wouldn't get ruined with the painting.

Robin took the opportunity to take the can and when she realized that he had it, she laughed and tried to act quickly by spilling it on him, it didn't work as she only managed to spill a small amount over him; now he had full possession and control of the can.

"So… what was it that you were going to do?" He asked teasingly as she took a step back. "Were you going to throw this on me, all over my hair?"

"Don't you dare, Robin?" Regina warned, backing away as he took two steps towards her, all until she was cornered against a wall.

"But you were going to do it to me." He smiled, his eyes taking on the way her own eyes sent him a warning.

"I'm warning you…" She said to him again, and even though she was smiling her tone was serious.

Smiling cheekily, he introduced his hand inside the paint, put the can down and faced her. "Now, what part of you needs more pink, hmmm? He arched his eyebrows as if considering it for a while… a teasing smile on his pink-covered face. "You have your face, your arms… Oh I know!" Before she could react or even tell him not to do it, he ran his hand through her hair, making her gasp in shock.

"Hey!" She yelped, her mouth wide open as she stared at him in disbelieve.

"Now this masterpiece is complete, you look lovely." He said in triumph, not backing away from her as she stood in her corner.

"Take this thing off my hair or I'll kill you, I swear I'm not kidding." True, she wasn't really going to kill him but he wasn't going to be rewarded by kisses either.

"Alright… if my Queen wants it off, then let's take it off." In a quick maneuver that surprised Regina enough to make her gasp, Robin picked her up, put her over his shoulder and carried her out of the room.

"What do you think you are you doing? Put me down!" With that said, she rested her hands on his lower back, trying to find a way not to fall and maybe even looking for a way down; but Robin just kept walking.

"You want me to take the paint off? Then shut up woman," He said; then after some more walking he made it to the bathroom, into the shower and only when they were both there he put her down.

"What?" She started to ask but was cut off when he turned on the shower and they were both hit with an icy cold spray. "Ro… No!" She protested, trying to walk out of the shower but finding it impossible with Robin blocking her way. "Ugh! I hate you."

"Liar, you love me."

"Yeah, but I still hate you."

"Would you stop the whining and crying? That's not very Royal." He said reaching behind her because there was a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap conveniently placed there.

Blinking and getting soaked as, she lifted her face and opened her mouth to speak. "You are in so much trouble." After saying that, she tried once again to walk away, pushing against him to evade the water, but Robin was not giving in…

No, he didn't, instead he kept his new line of silence and squeezed some shampoo into his hand and then onto her hair. Now despite her previous words, she let him do it and he smiled.

"The good news is, since this paint in non-toxic you don't have to worry too much." He said, concentrating on taking the paint off her hair.

Parting her lips as if to speak, Regina blinked slowly, her eyes glued to his as he took the soap to take the paint off her face. To that she didn't say anything, she just remained there as he processed into gently scrubbing her face, the look on his eyes seeming as if taking in with fascination the feeling of her smooth skin underneath his fingertips.

And she liked the feeling herself; sure, he has touched her before and more intimately than that… but for some reason it felt like it was the first time he ever lay a hand on her; and the fact that they were together in a shower, close enough so that they were touching, soaked to the bone while her big warm eyes studied him made it all different.

"She won't ever hate you. You are an amazing mother and an amazing woman who has so much love to give, you just need to stop being afraid of letting it show."

Clearing her throat and looking down, she felt her cheeks burn. She was just wondering how come he had that uncanny ability of reading her mind and she asked if he had always been able to do that or if it has been something he just learnt to do.

But not wanting to think about that, she clicked her tongue to her cheek and as casually as she could, she smiled. "Here, let me help you." She whispered, rubbing some water off her eyes and then taking the soap from his hand. Like he did with her, she went to wash his face… scrubbing his skin, feeling around… her fingers roaming all over his face until he could do nothing but held his breath and watch her as she cleaned him.

Moving his eyes to her slightly parted lips, Robin blinked slowly and bringing his hand up he took hold of her wandering fingers and held them secure in his hold. "I want to kiss you right now."

Tilting her head up, Regina placed her other hand to his hard stomach and remained like that, saying no word as her eyes delved deep into his.

Robin took that as a green light and leaned forward, his lips tenderly pressing to those of the woman in front of him and adding a bit of pressure.

Regina didn't protest against that so he caught her bottom lip between his teeth and pulled at it, creating a way so he could deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue slowly into her mouth and tasting the sweetness of her.

Breathing into his mouth, the dark haired woman angled her face to the side and dragging her hand from his stomach to the back of his neck, she started to kiss him back. They did that for a while, their tongues battling and tangling in a sweet dance while their hands took the liberty to roam wherever they could.

"Regina…" Robin mumbled against her lips as he slid his hands down her back until they reached the edge of her pants. Then he moved them down so that his palms could sneak beneath the fabric of her underwear, cupping her flesh to bring her closer to him and thus making her feel the stiffening erection inside his own pants.

Forgetting about everything that wasn't the man attached to her lips, Regina threw her head back and spread her legs a bit more so that she could have a better feel. That apparently made Robin even more eager because he closed his hands against her almost forcefully and pressed her as close to him as he could.

Gasping into the kiss and definitely lost into the moment, Regina did something she has only done once and way too briefly and that was lowering one of her hands between their bodies so that she could take a hold of his erection.

Rubbing him through his pants, she felt him moan against her mouth and smiling a wicked smile, she pulled away from the kiss.

Just by what was going on she was feeling a liquid warm sensation settle insistently in her groin and wanting to act on it, she unbuttoned his pants so that she could have a better feel of the pure essence of his manhood.

It felt amazing, he felt amazing. It was as if a rock hard scorching masterpiece wrapped in velvet made it into her hand and she just had to touch it all over, her hand sliding up and down the length of it and loving how her touch made his breathing labored.

"I want you so bad you wouldn't even believe it." He said, grinning while pressing his forehead to hers. "And right know I'm debating on what would be best, to have you right here right now or taking you to bed and seducing you into having me have my way with you."

Without letting go of his erection, Regina bit on his lips. "I want you too, now. Here."

Not wasting another minute, Robin took over her lips once more and sliding both her pants and panties down her legs until they were out of the way, he lifted her against the wall and as she wrapped her legs around him, he entered her almost roughly.

True, it probably wasn't how ideally it was supposed to be but to her it was perfect. She loved the way he was filling her, she liked how they barely made it out of their clothes and she loved how desperate his kiss had turned to. Yeah, in the bed and taking their time to explore one another seemed more than good too, but for now this was what she needed.

Breaking off the kiss and sliding her lips down his jaw, Regina bit lightly on his throat and then she soothed the spot by running her tongue over it. It made Robin growl and grabbing hard on her ass slamming harder into her, he moved his head back so that he could look right into her eyes.

Swallowing down and refusing to blink, she held his gaze. In a way it almost felt obscene but at the same time it felt so right. "I love you." She said as his hips rocked against hers. Now, she hasn't said that since the night she finally confessed it and she wondered if it was the time to say it again.

Probably not, but since he somehow of flashed a smile her way and then pressed his lips back to hers, she assumed it wasn't so bad.

"I'm going to pull out." He mumbled and she tightened her legs around him.

"Don't you dare…" She moaned because she was so close; it just that the feeling of her body trapped between his solid frame and the hard wall behind her as he slid in and then almost out was way too exhilarating. "Just hold it for a minute."

"I won't hold a minute." He said in a strained voice and as if to let it show, he groaned and slammed hard into her. Obviously letting go inside of her, Regina felt her groin tingle in the most perfect way; then he started moving within her again, rocking against her and making her skin burn with need. All of it was enough to make her reach the edge of her passion and clinging hard to him, she was hit by a huge wave of pleasure.

"Oh my… ohhh." She moaned and when he kissed her again and swallowed her words, she just took pleasure in the way he continued slamming into her until she couldn't feel her legs.

Then, when it was all done, he rested her body against her and still holding her up, he kissed her lightly. "I love you too."

Nodding and feeling how the spray of the water fell over them as if to calm all their senses, Regina hummed. "I know, but if you got me pregnant again, I'll kill you."

Chuckling, Robin covered her mouth with his and kissed her again… "Well you better brace yourself because I'm good at making baby and this, this won't be the last time tonight."

Laughing, Regina rolled her eyes but when he went back to kissing her, she didn't felt like laughing anymore and she suddenly became eagerly curious about what the night and why not, what the rest of their life had in store for them…


End file.
